A Different Kind of Love Story
by ByeByeBirdie
Summary: Falling in love had never been part of Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy's plan. She hated him and he hated her. Until one day they didn't. Until one day they looked at each other and realized that everything had changed. So even though falling in love had been unexpected, being in love was something they couldn't stop no matter how hard they tried.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** With Harry Potter and the Cursed Child set to come out in a week, I wanted to try my hand at a NextGen story. I love the idea of Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy coming from different backgrounds and overcoming it all to be together. So that's exactly what I have for you here. There is a heavy focus on Rose & Scorpius, though we do get some tidbits into the rest of their families and friends. This will be a multi-chapter fic and I hope to be able to submit a chapter every week, if not before (of course, reviews certainly help that timeline go faster!)

 **Disclaimer** : I am not J.K. Rowling and therefore own very little in this story. If you recognize it, it's hers. If you don't...it's still probably hers.

* * *

 **A Different Kind of Love Story**

Prologue

By ByeByeBirdie

* * *

This isn't your typical love story. They didn't meet and fall in love at first sight. They didn't date or court each other. He didn't bring her flowers and she never gave him chocolate. He didn't flirt with her and she didn't bat his eyelashes at him. Their first kiss wasn't magical. There were no fireworks or sparks. He didn't sweep her off her feet. She didn't melt at his first touch. He wasn't on his best behavior and she never expected him to be.

But this is a love story. It's just a different kind of love story.

Because before there was love there was hatred and animosity. Before there was love there was pain and heartbreak. Before there was love there was anger and confusion. And before any of that, there was a guy and a girl who lived on opposites sides of their world. A guy who never knew what love was and a girl who failed at love once before. A guy who was afraid to be himself and a girl who was afraid to find herself. A guy who didn't know how to trust and a girl who trusted too much. A guy and a girl who couldn't have been more different.

She was a Gryffindor. He was a Slytherin.

He excelled in Potions. She did not.

She lived in the library with a mob of books. He spent his free time in broom cupboards with flirty girls.

She loved her family. He wasn't sure he loved his.

Her cousin was her best friend. Her cousin also happened to be his.

When she got the Head Girl badge, she celebrated with her entire family. He celebrated alone.

She smiled every time an owl dropped off a letter to her. He dreaded it.

Her family helped save the wizarding world. His tried to destroy it.

She was just a girl and he was just a guy but they hated each other from the moment they set eyes on each other.

Until one day they didn't.

Until one day they fell in love.

Falling in love had never been part of their plan. But being in love was something they couldn't stop no matter how hard they tried.

This is the love story of Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy.


	2. Little Reunion

**A/N:** Aaaand here we go with Chapter 1. Enjoy!

* * *

 **A Different Kind of Love Story**

Chapter 1: Little Reunion

By ByeByeBirdie

* * *

 **Sunday, September 1** **st** **, 10:35 AM  
** **King's Cross**

It was a beautiful day at King's Cross Station that September 1st. There wasn't a cloud in the sky as the sun glistened down on all the families hurling along the various platforms. This was always Rose Weasley's favorite day of the year (not that she'd admit to her parents that her favorite day of the year was the day she said good-bye to them). She loved watching the many students embracing their parents and the reunions of old friends. The squeals and the excitement that filled the air put a smile on her face. Growing up with a big family gave her an appreciation of loud crowds. The train whistle sent a jolt of appreciation through her veins. She loved every minute of it.

Closing her eyes, she let the sun beat down on her face while listening to the first-day enthusiasm and jitters that seemed to envelop her the moment she spilled on to Platform 9 ¾. This was her last year to enjoy it and while that thought made her smile waver just slightly, she was determined to make it the best year yet.

Glancing behind her, she watched as her younger brother and her parents appeared on the Platform behind her. Almost immediately, fifteen-year-old Hugo Weasley sprinted off into the crowd in search of his friends, leaving his parents standing back and laughing at the eagerness of their son.

"I hope he comes back for his trunk because I'm not dragging it onto the train," Rose drawled.

"Aren't Head Girls supposed to be generous?" her mother teased.

"I'm pretty sure the generosity isn't expected to extend to annoying younger siblings."

Hermione could only laugh. "You might find you'll miss your brother once you graduate."

"Not likely," she said, though they both knew she was lying.

Hermione smiled nostalgically as she glanced down at her daughter. "I can't believe this is the last time we'll be doing this with you, Rose," she said. "It feels like just yesterday I was changing your nappies."

" _Mum_!" she groaned, whirling her head around to make sure no one heard. "If you're trying to embarrass me, it's working!"

"Oh, no, that job is usually left up to your father."

Ron let out a noise of protest from beside the two. "Oh, sure, the one time I stand here not saying anything and suddenly _I'm_ the embarrassment."

"You not saying anything is a rarity, dear."

Ron could only laugh, knowing full well his wife was right in saying so. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her lips earning a loud groan from Rose as she interjected herself between them. "Oy! Absolutely no snogging on the platform! People can _see_ you, y'know!"

Her parents only laughed, earning another whine from the seventeen-year-old as she grabbed her trunk handle and ventured further down the platform. It didn't take her long to find Albus and Lily saying their goodbyes to their parents with Hugo beside them chattering Lily's ear off as if they hadn't just seen each other the night before at the end-of-summer barbecue her grandparents always hosted.

Rose rushed over to the group of people. "Uncle Harry, can you please tell your two besties to stop doing everything in their power to embarrass me?"

"You'd think our daughter has never seen a married couple kiss before," Ron said as he strolled up behind her.

"Oh, ew, they were kissing?" Hugo groaned, earning a round of laughter from the group.

" _I_ think it's sweet that they still want to kiss each other after twenty years of marriage," Lily chimed in.

"And that's why you're our favorite niece," Ron said, reaching over and ruffling the fifteen-year-old's hair.

Albus coughed which sounded an awful lot like 'suck up,' earning an expected glare from his sister. "C'mon, Rose, let's go claim our usual compartment on the train before a bunch of firsties think it's available."

"Oy, you be nice to those so-called firsties," Harry chimed in. "Don't you remember what it was like on your first day?"

"Oh, no, _please_ don't retell that story," Albus pleaded, shaking his head. "Yes, we get it. James interrupted Victoire and Teddy's snogfest. I was scared of being in Slytherin and look how that turned out. Lily and Hugo were crying because they couldn't go-"

"We weren't crying!" Lily scoffed.

"-to Hogwarts and the entire platform was staring at Ron because he's incredibly famous. Blah, blah, blah," he finished, but the 'blahs' were drowned out by laughter at his final comment.

"And here we are six years later," Ginny sighed nostalgically. "When did that happen?"

Rose considered the words for a fraction of a second before saying, "Approximately two thousand one hundred and ninety days ago, give or a take a leap year or two."

The group all gawked at her.

"Damn that was fast math," Al eventually said with a low whistle.

"Guess no one has to wonder why she made Head Girl," Hermione beamed.

"Ah, do my ears deceive me? Weasley made Head Girl?"

Remember how Rose was determined to make it her best year ever? She knew that if anything were to upset that plan, it would be the owner of the voice she loathed more than anything in the world. The voice that always managed to ruin whatever good time she was having. The voice that made her skin crawl just by being near her. The voice belonging to noneother than Scorpius Malfoy.

She couldn't be sure when their rivalry began. Maybe it had started with her father telling her to beat him every chance he got. Maybe it was when Albus got chosen for Slytherin and Rose was subconsciously jealous of Malfoy. Or maybe it was the first time they spoke. Maybe it was their first class together. Maybe it was the first time Scorpius answered a question before her. Maybe it was the first time he got a better grade than her. Looking back, she couldn't pinpoint an exact time. But it didn't matter because everything he said and did made her blood boil.

Whirling around, she glared at the Slytherin as he strolled up to the group, munching casually on a chocolate frog. Before she could comment, Albus grinned and extended his fist for Scorpius to knock his against. "Hey, mate!" Albus greeted.

The very idea that Rose's mortal enemy also happened to be best friends with her cousin made her skin crawl.

"Albus," he greeted, reaching into his bag. "Chocolate frog?"

"Is that what's considered breakfast now?" Rose drawled.

"I might even make it my lunch," he smirked, winking at her.

"Don't ever wink at me again if you know what's good for you."

He laughed, ignoring the hostility in her voice. He often did. Her animosity towards him was legendary to anyone that knew the pair but if he got bothered by all who found him insufferable, he's be a very angry man. And anger only caused creases in his forehead and bags under his eyes and his good looks were about the only thing he could count on.

He finished off his chocolate frog as he glanced around at the group of people he had come to know. He didn't spend too much time with the Potters and Weasleys outside of school, but he had occasionally visited Albus at home so he knew the extended family well enough. While at first, some of them had been awkward and wary around him, most of them had gotten used to the idea that he was friends with Albus and accepted him into their lives. He never admitted it aloud but he had always appreciated their acceptance because not a whole lot of people were keen on giving it to him.

Not so surprisingly, the only one who still seemed to wear narrowed eyes at him was Ron Weasley, but from what Albus told Scorpius, Ron was epic at holding grudges and apparently he was not at all a fan of Scorpius' father.

Which was ironic because neither was Scorpius.

"Anyone want a chocolate frog?" Scorpius suggested, pulling out the bag and holding it up. "I just got your card with my last chocolate frog, Mr. Potter. Fascinating stuff."

"How many times have I told you to call me Harry?" he said with a chuckle.

Scorpius only shrugged.

"You didn't poison them, did you?" Lily scoffed.

"I'm eating them, aren't I, Mini-Potter?"

She shot him a look for using the nickname he had dubbed back as a third year. She wasn't a big fan of Scorpius' either but that probably had more to do with the fact that she and her older brother were always bickering so anyone Albus associated with was someone Lily preferred not to.

"Are your parents around?" Hermione asked Scorpius in an attempt to be polite.

"Nah, already left," he said dismissively.

"Couldn't wait to get rid of you, hm?" Rose smirked.

" _Rose_ ," her mother scolded at the same time Albus shot her an impatient glare. Only Rose noticed the amused smirk on her father's face.

And only Albus noticed the anger in Scorpius' eyes.

"Well, as lovely as this little reunion has been," Rose muttered with a roll of the eyes, "I've got a prefect compartment to get to."

"Interested in learning who your fellow Head Boy will be?" Scorpius smirked, brushing the blonde hair out of his eyes.

Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him. "Why do I get the distinct impression you're about to tell me that your Daddy bribed McGonagall into giving you that badge?"

" _Rose_!" Hermione groaned, shooting her husband a look who let out an amused chuckle. He was smart enough to turn it into a cough.

"Right, because Headmistress McGonagall totally seems the type to be bribed," Scorpius drawled.

"Well, are you?" Rose asked impatiently.

"Am I what?"

" _Head Boy_ ," she snapped.

He smirked, offering her a curt nod. "Looks like we'll be spending a lot of time together this year, Weaslet."

"I guess nightmares really do come true."

"Ah, dreaming about me, are you?"

"Yes, last night I dreamed that I tossed your body over a cliff into a sea of very hungry sharks. I woke up very happy."

"Probably because you remembered it was the first day of school and you couldn't wait until we were reunited."

"Any chance there's a cliff nearby?" Rose muttered.

"Cut it out, you two," Albus pleaded. "You have an entire year to quarrel. Any chance you can at least hold off until we get to Hogwarts?"

"Not likely," Rose snapped.

"Fat chance," Scorpius agreed.

Albus sighed as he reluctantly led the three of them on to the train, ignoring the glares they kept sending each other behind his back. "Something tells me this is going to be a very long year."

* * *

 **Sunday, September 1** **st** **, 2:00 PM  
** **Hogwarts Express**

Rose hadn't been surprised at all that Scorpius Malfoy managed to scrape the Head Boy title. Annoyed, yes. But not surprised. The two of them had been competing for the Number One spot of their class since their very first year. Where he excelled in Potions, she had him beat at Charms. She was a star pupil in Defense Against the Dark Arts and he thrived at Transfiguration. They had been competing for grades since the first time a question was asked in class and both their hands shot up into the air.

If only classes is where their competition stayed.

But nothing in life could be that easy and Rose became very aware of that when the two of them were chosen as seekers for their respective Quidditch teams during their fourth years. And if that wasn't enough, they were both constantly competing for the attention of their shared best friend, noneother than Albus Potter. They bickered, they fought, they screamed, and when that wasn't enough, they hexed each other to get their way. Detention was not foreign to them as their fights often got them into trouble with the professors. And of course in detention, they would then compete to see who could finish the task at hand the fastest. It was as if their day wasn't complete without knowing there was some sort of challenge that they had won and the other had lost.

" _Roe_!"

Rose shook thoughts of Scorpius from her mind as she glanced towards her best friend, Alice Longbottom. "Er…you were talking to me, weren't you," Rose said with a sheepish grin.

"You don't see anyone else in the compartment, do you?" she sighed.

Rose took a brief sweep of the room. "Where are Caddy and Shayne?"

"They left five minutes ago to go swoon at their boyfriends."

Rose shrugged. Truth was, she didn't particularly care where her other two roommates went off to. While Rose was an easy person to get along with, she only considered a small handful of people in her life her friends and Caddy Jordan and Shayne Bentley didn't exactly make that list. In fact, the list really only consisted of two people: Albus Potter and Alice Longbottom.

"What's with you?" Alice sighed, propping her legs on to the bench opposite her.

"You know what's up with me."

Alice frowned. "So Scorpius Malfoy made Head Boy. Who cares? Don't let him get to you because you know that's what he wants."

"The first thing he said to the prefects when we called our meeting to order was to remind everyone that all I have in life are my brains and my parents' fame and I had nothing else going for me. How the hell am I supposed to let that go?"

"Something tells me you retaliated and told the group that you'd rather have your parents' fame than his family's ill-fame."

Rose frowned. "I did not."

Alice shot her a look.

"I said I'd rather have famous parents than infamous ones."

" _Roe_ ," she whined to which Rose could only grin sheepishly.

"What can I say? The devil brings out the worst in me."

"Oh, so now Scorpius Malfoy is the devil?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Who knew that the devil was so unbelievably good-looking."

Rose made a face of protest. "Ew, I just ate, Ace. Don't make me puke it all over the compartment."

"Oh, please. Just because you can't stand the guy doesn't mean you can't admit he's hot."

"You think everyone is hot."

Alice grinned. "Speaking of, did you see Chase Hartley? I swear his eyes got bluer over the summer."

Rose chuckled but shrugged. Ever since she caught her ex-boyfriend cheating on her at the end of the prior year, she hadn't done much noticing of the opposite sex. But she said nothing and let Alice prattle on about the array of guys she had her eyes on.

It was far easier pretending she was fine than admitting she wasn't sure what she was.

* * *

 **Sunday, September 1** **st** **, 2:30 PM  
** **Hogwarts Express**

"There you are," Albus noted when the compartment door slid open and in walked Scorpius.

"Sorry, just…uh…doing patrols around the corridor, that's all."

"That, or you were hooking up with Quinn Wilkes in the loo."

Scorpius blinked. "How the hell did you know that?"

"Noah Zabini came in here complaining that you were holed up in there."

"Why would he be complaining about that?

Albus smirked. "Because he was hoping he could persuade Elle to do some shameful shagging in there and now she's off somewhere with her friends and he's lost his chance."

"Where have those two _not_ shagged?" Scorpius snorted as he dropped on to the bench opposite Albus.

Albus ignored the question. "You couldn't have waited until we got to Hogwarts before you chose your first flavor of the week?"

"Flavor of the day," Scorpius corrected. "And after the meeting from hell, how else was I expected to relieve some stress?"

Albus sighed. "Do I dare even ask about the meeting?"

"Your cousin's a bitch, Potter."

He glared at him. "Watch it."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. He was constantly putting down Rose and Albus was constantly defending her. Scorpius didn't expect anything less but it was annoying that he couldn't just come out and complain about his mortal enemy without feeling the need to tread carefully. "How the two of us are going to get anything done this year is a true mystery."

"This may be a novel concept to you, but you _could_ try being nicer to her."

Scorpius snorted. "The devil will be ice-skating to work the day that that happens."

Albus let out a frustrated sigh. "Your rivalry is getting stale, mate."

"Tell that to her," he argued with a shrug before diving into his trunk and pulling out a wizarding chess board for the two of them to play.

Scorpius had actually met Albus on the train during their very first year. Albus had stopped by the food trolley to grab a handful of snacks and he noticed Scorpius sitting by himself in a compartment. Scorpius could have sat with Quentin Yaxley and Glenda Travers but he had never particularly liked them growing up and didn't want people to think he was friends with bigots like them. So he made the decision that sitting by himself was a better option. He was used to being alone anyway. He had grown up an only child and his only cousin was five years older and a bit of annoying priss. So he had long learned how to be independent. It was lonely but again, he was used to that.

Albus had opened the compartment door on that very first day, causing Scorpius to look up in surprise. "Uh…if you're hungry at all, the food trolley just went by," Albus said.

Scorpius blinked. "I'm good."

Albus had frowned. "Do you want to come sit with us?"

The very idea almost made Scorpius laugh. "I'm good," he repeated.

"Oh," he said awkwardly. "Do you want some company?"

Scorpius said nothing, wondering what could possibly be the Potter kid's angle. He didn't have time to figure it out because a boy who looked nearly identical to Albus was coming up behind him. "Why are you talking to the Malfoy kid, Albus?" he scoffed. "Be careful. I hear Death Eater blood is contagious."

" _James_ ," Albus groaned but his brother was already rushing down the hallway laughing.

"Sorry about him," Albus muttered at Scorpius, his cheeks now red.

"He's right, y'know," Scorpius said with a curt shrug. "You probably shouldn't be associating with me."

Albus wasn't sure how to respond to that but it was clear Scorpius didn't expect him to as he shifted his gaze towards the window, signaling the end of their conversation.

Two years later, Albus confided in Scorpius that when the sorting hat was considering where to put him, it was debating between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Albus told the hat he wanted to be put into Slytherin.

Albus didn't tell Scorpius why but they both knew that it was that brief conversation they had shared on the train. Scorpius liked to pretend he was fine being alone but Albus had seen right through the act. And just like Albus never told Scorpius why he chose Slytherin, Scorpius never told Albus thank you.

But he knew anyway.

* * *

 **Friday, September 6** **th** **, 6:00 PM  
** **Library**

"No."

" _Rose_ , you have to come."

Rose snorted, flipping her auburn curls over her shoulder irritably. The last thing she _had_ to do was go to a Slytherin party. "No, Al, what I have to do is finish this essay on maldodraught and then review and sign off on the detention slips that Malfoy neglected to do while off with his latest playmate."

Albus let out a frustrated sigh as he leaned back in the chair. "You don't know he was with a girl."

Rose glanced atop her essay with a dry look. "Malfoy is always off with a girl."

"Looking to get in on the action, Weasley?"

Rose stiffened at the new voice, whirling around to glare at Scorpius as he strolled up with his arm draped across Ebony Snyder's shoulders. "Not even a little bit, Malfoy," she scoffed.

"Good thing because I don't go for ugly."

 _"Scor_ ," Albus groaned, always trying to play the role of peacemaker.

Rose scowled at Scorpius. "Y'know, I'm surprised you could keep your tongue out of Snyder's mouth long enough to actually show your face in the library."

He shrugged. "I came to tell you I can't take patrols tonight. Be a love and cover for me?"

What Rose wouldn't give to strangle him right then and there. She considered it for a brief moment before deciding it wasn't worth going to Azkaban. "I'm not taking your patrols just because you want to get drunk at some stupid party."

Scorpius frowned, glancing over at Albus with a scowl. "You told her?"

"He invited me," Rose answered on his behalf.

"Have you gone temporarily mad, Al?" Scorpius groaned.

Albus rolled his eyes. "Hasn't this feud between you two gone on long enough?" he sighed, glancing between the Slytherin and the Gryffindor.

"Not until he's dead and buried."

"Not until her body turns up at the bottom of the ocean."

Albus sighed. "I'll take that as a no," he muttered. "You guys do realize that it might be far easier working together as Head Boy and Head Girl if you put the petty arguments to a stop."

"Our arguments are not petty," Rose huffed.

Albus rolled his eyes again. "Right, because fighting about who's a better dueler or who has more Quidditch wins or who's face is uglier or bickering about your relationship history isn't petty at all."

"In order to fight about a relationship history, Weaslet would have actually had to have a relationship at some point."

Rose shot him a scathing look. "Your idea of a relationship is a quickie in the closet," she snarled. "My idea of a relationship is dating Cameron Zee for seven months."

"Cameron Zee was a tool."

Rose frowned, meeting the roll of his eyes with a bit of sadness in her own. She regretted bringing up Cameron almost immediately. "That might be the one and only thing we'll ever agree on," she murmured before letting her gaze drop back down to her essay.

Scorpius winced, knowing well enough to change the subject. "Take my patrols, Weasel. I know you live for shit like this."

She scoffed. "Just because you don't take a single thing seriously doesn't mean your lack of care has rubbed off on me."

"You really need to lighten up," he grunted. "You are the most uptight, neurotic person I know and last I checked you were supposed to be a seventeen-year-old girl. Live a little, won't you?"

"If that means turning into you, no thanks."

"Better me than you," he smirked.

She slowly glanced up at him, frustration seeping out of her expression. "Because being the spawn of Death Eaters is exactly the life I'd choose," she drawled sarcastically, a hint of bitterness spilling from her tongue.

" _Rose_ ," Albus snapped and Rose frowned, nearly forgetting that he was there.

Scorpius' eyes darkened almost immediately. If there was one thing that Rose Weasley could say to get under his skin, it was that. "At least I don't ride Mommy and Daddy's war-hero coattails."

" _Scorpius_!" Albus groaned, pulling himself out of his chair to glare at the two of them.

"Er…maybe we should go?" Ebony finally spoke up with an awkward grimace.

Both Scorpius and Rose were looking at each other with murderous expressions and only looked away when Ebony tugged at Scorpius' arms. " _C'mon_ ," she urged. "We've got a party to get to."

Scorpius turned on his heel and headed out as Rose called out after him, "Don't be late for patrols, Spawn."

* * *

 **Friday, September 6th, 7:45 PM  
** **Random hallway**

Rose Weasley was her mother and her father in every way. Like her mother, she was studious and smart and spent her life with her nose in a book and like her father, she was witty and kind and unwaveringly loyal. Her family was exceptionally large with cousins galore and she was about the only one in the entire Potter-Weasley clan that seemed to know how to tolerate them all. When James and Albus were fighting with each other at the top of their lungs, she stepped in and played peacemaker. When Dominique was whining about Victoire's perfect little husband and her perfect little baby and her perfect little life, Rose reminded Dominique that one day that would be her with Roberto. When Dora was born, Victoire and Teddy named Rose godmother. When Molly had her heart broken by her boyfriend of three years, Rose was there to be her crying shoulder. When Lily was bossing Hugo around, Rose would tell the two of them that compromise was the stepping stone to any true friendship. When Roxanne and Fred's prank wars got too out of control, Rose would be the one to say that their parents didn't survive an actual war just to have their kids maimed in a prank gone wrong. When Louis' Quidditch days were over due to a critical bludger to his spine, Rose was the only person he felt comfortable crying in front of. When little Lucy felt left out of plans, Rose would be the one to play dolls with her.

She was everyone's friend and confidante, a true Weasley at heart. But what most people didn't know was that while everyone else was convinced she was perfect, she felt like anything but.

She grew up living in the shadow of her parents and her Uncle Harry. They were the infamous Golden Trio and the entire world seemed to worship them. She had striven at a young age to make a name for herself so she didn't have to always be known as the daughter of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, but it seemed that no matter where she went, that was all she was ever going to be. It didn't matter that she received the highest mark in the entire school; she only got Head Girl because of who her parents were. It didn't matter that she single-handedly won the Cup for Gryffindor in her prior year; she was only on the Quidditch team because of her parents. It didn't matter that she was incredibly beautiful; guys supposedly only liked her because of who her parents were.

She loved her parents. She really did. But a part of her also resented them.

Not that she would ever say that aloud.

"Watch it, Rose!"

Rose shook her thoughts from her head and glanced up at her sixteen-year-old cousins, Louis and Roxanne. "Oh, sorry," she murmured. "Where are you off to?"

"Out," Louis said with an innocent smile.

Like Louis Weasley had ever been innocent. "You two are going to that Slytherin party, aren't you," Rose sighed.

Roxanne smirked. "Just because you hate having any sort of fun doesn't mean the rest of us do."

"You sound like Malfoy," Rose snapped as she slipped past her two cousins and headed down the hallway.

"Maybe he has a point!"

Rose ignored the comment from Roxanne as she continued down the hallway. She knew that everyone thought she was a bit of a stick in the mud, but she didn't have a lot of time for frivolity. She had a stack of responsibilities and she was determined to excel in all that she could. To do so meant focusing on what was important, and stupid parties with drunken teenagers looking to score a snog session was a guaranteed way to lose focus.

She spoke the password to the Head Dorm and entered the spacious, and thankfully empty, room. She had initially been excited at the prospect of total quiet and privacy until she realized that Scorpius Malfoy was Head Boy and she'd be forced to share the space with him. She mainly stuck to her bedroom and was surprised to find how easy it was to avoid the satanic Slytherin.

Tossing her books on to the coffee table she dropped on to the couch with a stifled yawn. It wasn't even nine o'clock on the first Friday of the year and already she was completely drained. But she supposed that was expected when she was doing most of the Head work while Scorpius merely basked in the title without bothering to do the responsibilities that came along with it.

She frowned when she heard the portrait swing open and in walked Scorpius. He wandered in and stopped short, his eyes narrowing at her sitting on the couch. "Shouldn't you still be in the library worrying about your every grade?"

"Shouldn't you be in the Slytherin common room with your tongue down some skank's throat?"

He smirked. "Y'know, every time you mention my potential exploits, it comes off as jealousy."

"Then you clearly don't know how to read your audience," she snapped, picking herself off the couch and grabbing her bag before rushing towards the winding stairwell that led to her bedroom.

"Last chance to join the festivities, Weasel!"

She halted at the bottom of the stairwell, slowly turning around to scoff at him. "I thought you didn't want me there."

"I'd like to see you actually take a sip of firewhisky. There's a bet going around that you've never tried the stuff."

She rolled her eyes. "Not that it's any of your business, Malfoy, but my cousins and I have been pilfering firewhisky from our parents' liquor cabinets for years now."

"Well, damn, I wasn't aware you knew how to break any rules," he smirked.

"Yeah, well, I do. And thanks to my hoard of male cousins, I also know how to break bones so I'd suggest scurrying along and leaving me the hell alone unless you're welcoming the idea of me practicing on you."

"Ooh, you're rather feisty tonight, aren't you?"

"Leave me alone, Malfoy," she snapped.

"With pleasure," he drawled as he watched Rose turn on her heel and rush upstairs without another word.

He would never actually admit it aloud, but he rather enjoyed the battle of wits he often shared with Rose Weasley. She was one of the only people in the school who had no problem challenging him and his ways and a part of him found it refreshing. Most people either steered clear of him (probably because their parents warned them to) or they were people his family had grown up with who still expected the Malfoys to be bigots alongside them (like the Yaxleys and the Travers). The one notable exception was Albus Potter.

The Malfoy family was one that confused most people, including Scorpius himself. There were so many preconceived notions of the Malfoys that he wondered exactly where he was supposed to fit in. There were still plenty of families in the wizarding world that believed in pureblood supremacy, including Scorpius' grandfather. His grandfather wasn't the type to believe in starting up a new war over his beliefs but the beliefs were still there. And everyone knew that his grandfather had been by Voldemort's side during both wars. If that wasn't enough, everyone knew that his father had been branded a Death Eater as well. One of the only ones of his generation. To this day, Scorpius didn't understand what was said or done to keep them out of jail, but when Scorpius tried asking his father about it, he simply changed the subject. Scorpius never broached the subject again.

Coming into Hogwarts, it felt as if Scorpius was trying to make up for all the shitty things the Malfoys did in the past. As if he wasn't his own person but just another Malfoy stuck on the Earth to bring misfortune to others. He worked his ass off in school not because he liked it but because he was determined to prove to the world that not all Malfoys were slacking Death Eater wannabes. But it was as if no matter what he did, all people saw in him was the fact that his father had been the one to set up Albus Dumbledore's death. His father was the one who led a group of Death Eaters into the castle. His grandfather was one of Voldemort's right-hand men. It didn't matter what Scorpius did. It only seemed to matter what his family had done once upon a time.

Scorpius had learned at a young age that all his father cared about was their status in the wizarding world. Any time Scorpius threw a tantrum as a kid, Draco would scold him and tell him to act like a Malfoy. When Scorpius received his Hogwarts letter, his father pre-warned him that getting into any sort of trouble was going to shame their family. When Scorpius became seeker on the Slytherin Quidditch team, his father said that a Quidditch win would put the Malfoy name on the map. When Scorpius scored 10 O.W.L.s, Draco said he was doing a great job at representing the Malfoy name. It was _always_ about the Malfoy name. Never about Scorpius. He supposed that was probably why his mother left when he was twelve. She probably wanted to be someone other than a Malfoy. Scorpius wished he could do the same.

Actually, what Scorpius really wished was that he could say he loved his father and mean it. But a part of him really wasn't sure.

Scorpius shook the thoughts from his mind as he stuffed a handle of firewhisky and a handle of Goblin Gin into a bag and left the room, fleeing towards the Slytherin House. Drinking the night away and hitting on girls seemed like the perfect way to pretend as if his life wasn't complete shit.

* * *

 **Monday, September 9** **th** **, 8:30 PM  
** **Head Dorm**

"What would you say to foregoing the library for _one_ night to go on a little adventure?" Alice asked Rose as she stormed into Rose's bedroom the following night. Rose had a feeling she may one day regret giving her best friend the password to the Head Dorm.

Rose glanced up from her textbook curiously. "What kind of adventure, Ace?"

She shrugged, folding her arms across her chest like she often did when she felt vulnerable. "The kind that has us spying on sixth-year Hufflepuffs?"

Rose sighed, not sure she even wanted to hear the answer to her next question. "And why are we spying on sixth-year Hufflepuffs?"

"Because Zane Towson asked me to meet him in the Clock Tower tonight and then later said he forgot about an essay he has to finish for tomorrow. But Sadie said she overheard him talking to Jax Livins about how he was taking Poppy Swithers for a spin around the North Tower so you and I, m'dear, are going to catch him in the act."

Rose stared at her friend, who was now wearing a rather pleading grin on her face. "Wouldn't it just be easier to snog his best mate and make him jealous?"

She laughed. "It would except his best mate is Everett Platt and he's not too pleased with me since I blew him off for Redford Hummel at the end of last year."

Rose let out an amused whine. "You do know that Poppy Swithers is a ditzy airhead and it's truly a miracle how she hasn't failed out of school yet, right? You are so much better than her."

She shrugged. "Yeah, but even I can't compete with blonde hair and big boobs."

"Word around school is those boobs are fake."

"They're still bigger than mine."

"Not by much."

Alice grinned. "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

"That's really sad, Ace."

"I know," she smirked. "So are we catching Zane with his pants down or what?"

* * *

 **Monday, September 9** **th** **, 8:50 PM  
** **North Tower**

Rose couldn't be sure how Alice always managed to get them caught up in these awkward situations, but if it weren't for her, Rose had a feeling she would be living a rather dull life.

So there they were on a Monday night, roaming the halls just before curfew on a manhunt for a guy who had the audacity to blow off Alice Longbottom. Rose would be lying if she didn't say parts of her were jealous of Alice. She was tall and thin with legs that went on for days. She had beautiful silky blonde hair that fell in soft waves right below her ribcage. She was always smiling and she had this ability to turn anyone's mood upside down just with her contagious laugh. Her bright cobalt eyes captured the attention of anyone she looked at and she was quick on her feet, the wit rolling off her tongue effortlessly. She knew a little bit about everything and didn't even have to try to be the center of attention, her natural charisma placing her there automatically. Guys adored her, girls envied her, all while she pretended not to care when really, all that mattered to her was what people thought of her. Being the daughter of a professor had given her a thick skin at a young age but that didn't mean that insults or digs didn't effect Alice. They did even if she pretended they didn't.

"So I'm thinking I either fake tears and make him feel guilty," Alice contemplated, "Or I call him a lying bastard, her a whore, and storm off pretending that they're the scum of the Earth. What do you think?"

"I think you should slap him, hex her, and we should go down to the kitchens to celebrate with ice cream."

She grinned, linking her arm with Rose's. "This is why I leave all the decisions to you, Roe."

"Because I'm positively brilliant?"

"That, and quite a few of your decisions end with us getting fat off ice cream."

"Right, like you have any fat on that skinny little body of yours."

She grinned triumphantly and Rose could only laugh, knowing that neither of them had a chance of surviving their seventh year without each other. The two of them had known each other since they were babies. She, Albus, and Alice had grown up together, inseparable to say the least and that friendship continued through Hogwarts. Rose had always admired Alice, even at a young age. Rose pretended to be comfortable in her own skin, but she knew that most of the time it was an act. But Alice really was comfortable with who she was. She didn't try to pretend she was anyone but herself, even if that person was a little too obsessed with her looks, a bit of a snogging tease, and could occasionally show signs of selfishness. She didn't care if her so-called flaws showed because she always said it was better to be up front about them than hide them under fake confidence. Anytime she said that, Rose felt as if it was a dig towards her even if that wasn't Alice's intention. Because even though Rose came off tough and resilient, she knew that she held a lot of insecurities deep within her heart.

Not that she'd ever admit that out loud.

They did catch Zane snogging Poppy in the North Tower, to which Alice was more than happy to slap him in the face and Rose was more than happy to take off points for improper use of the North Tower. Rose also had the pleasure of telling Noah Zabini and Elle Bleeker off for doing the same and once more with Tanner Hutchinson and Caroline Turley as they had the misfortune of heading up the stairwell while she and Alice were coming down.

Everyone in the school knew that _the_ place to hook up was that very alcove at the top of the North Tower. Part of a prefect's duty during patrols was to monitor activity and kick those out who used that area for any sort of leisure activity, though students were actually smart enough to avoid the North Tower as curfew loomed. But that didn't make the place off limits during other times of the day.

"So now that we've taken off thirty points in a matter of minutes, does this mean we can get ice cream now?" Alice spoke with a hopeful grin.

Rose laughed and nodded as they climbed down the remaining stairs towards the corridor. Rose was about to tell her to lead the way, when another voice stopped them.

"Ah, Longbottom, have you snogged every guy in the school that you're now resorting to female companionship? Can't say I'm surprised that Weasley here is into girls."

Rose's fists clenched instinctively as she fixed her glare on Scorpius Malfoy, whose arm was draped over Leona Goyle's shoulders.

"What, because I haven't shown any interest in you all these years that suddenly means I'm a lesbian?" she drawled with the roll of her eyes. "Grow up, Malfoy."

He shrugged. "I'm surprised you even know where the North Tower is considering how infrequently you've probably used it."

"Is that really the best you got? Insults about my sexual orientation and my supposed lack of snog sessions?"

"They can't be considered insults if they're true."

"Not that I wouldn't snog Rose because if you ask me, the girl is bloody gorgeous," Alice intervened before Rose could consider what hex to send at Scorpius, "But we were simply here catching a jerk in the middle of a lie. Now if you don't mind, we have anywhere to be but here." She grabbed Rose's arm in an attempt to walk away before Scorpius could make another comment, but of course the nosy Slytherins felt the need to continue with the banter.

"Aw, did some guy blow Weasley off?" Leona finally spoke up with a snicker.

"Well, that certainly doesn't surprise me," Scorpius added. "Guys don't typically go for frizzy-haired ugly ducklings."

"And yet, here you are with Goyle," Rose snapped.

"Oh, you did _not_ just call me ugly!"

"That sounded a bit like jealousy, Weasley," Scorpius smirked, unfazed by the insult. Which was one of the reasons Rose's blood boiled every time they got into one of their tiffs. He always managed to keep his cool, no matter what she was attacking him with. He simply smirked or rolled his eyes or shrugged as if anything she said held no significance to him.

Rose wished she could do the same with him, but a girl can only hear she was ugly so many times before it got under her skin.

"You must have hit your head on the way over here if you think I'd have any reason to be jealous of you."

"Well, how about the fact that I'm here with someone of the opposite sex and you're here with Longbottom because you got blown off."

"She didn't get blown off," Alice sighed, rolling her eyes. "That would be all me."

"It's cute that you're covering for her, but-"

"I'm not. Ask Zane Towson. Better yet, just wait until tomorrow and you'll see the bruise on his cheek where I slapped him."

"Right, like I want to spend my time snooping around some bloke I couldn't give two shits about," Scorpius snorted.

"Speaking of a bloke I couldn't give two shits about," Rose grunted, glaring at him with her usual irritation, "Why don't you mosey on out of here and leave us in peace."

"We would but you're blocking the stairwell up to the alcove."

She blinked in surprise before letting out a groan. "You're Head Boy, Malfoy!" she snarled. "You are not supposed to be going anywhere near that alcove unless it's to take off points from other horny couples."

"Ah, well, I always was rather good at breaking the rules."

"For the love of Circe, do you ever take anything seriously?"

"Can't say that I do, no."

She wanted nothing more than to punch him in the face. Instead, she went with the age-old, "You disgust me."

"You repulse me."

She took a step closer to him. "You're irresponsible."

He took a step closer to her. "You're uptight."

"Arrogant prat!"

"Brown-nosing Know-it-all!"

"I hate you, Spawn."

"I hate you more, Weasel."

"Go to hell."

"And join you? No thanks."

It was about that time Rose decided pulling out her wand and hexing him with a stinging hex seemed like a really good idea.

He yelped, stumbling backwards as large red welts spread across his face. "Bloody hell, Weasley, what the _fuck_ is wrong with you!?" he shrieked, clawing at his face as the initial pain settled in.

Rose pocketed her wand and turned towards Alice. "Well, I don't know about you, but I feel much better."

To say that Rose hated Scorpius and Scorpius hated Rose was definitely an understatement.

* * *

 **A/N:** A week into a school and the drama has commenced. What other trouble will our dear Head Boy and Head Girl into now?


	3. Bitch Juice

**A/N:** It seemed as if some of you were surprised that I'm back so soon after the end of the **Balcony** series ended. I'm just as surprised as you but I wanted to write this Rose/Scorpius story and get it posted before **HP and the Cursed Child** came out so I pretty much wrote every free minute I had - during my lunch break, after work, weekends, etc. So here I am!

 **Disclaimer:** I am not J.K. Rowling and therefore own very little in this story.

* * *

 **A Different Kind of Love Story**

Chapter 2: Bitch Juice

By ByeByeBirdie

* * *

 **Wednesday, September 11** **th** **, 8:27 AM  
** **Potions classroom**

"Word on the street is you sent Rose to the hospital wing last night during the prefect meeting."

Scorpius glanced up as Albus slid into the seat beside him in Potions. "Those Hufflepuffs sure now how to stretch a piece of gossip," he scoffed.

"So you didn't hex her?"

He hesitated. "I didn't send her to the hospital wing."

Albus' eyes narrowed. "Which is your way of telling me you did hex her just not enough to need medical care."

He grinned sheepishly. "I _may_ have used a tiny stinging hex on her."

" _Scorpius_!"

"I said it was tiny!"

"That's not why I'm yelling at you," he groaned.

"Well, what do you expect from me? She wouldn't let me get in a word edgewise at the meeting. It was the only way to shut her up."

"I thought that's what you liked about her being Head Girl. The fact that she could do all the work and you just get the title."

"That makes me sound like such a douchebag."

"You are a douchebag."

Scorpius smirked. "Oh, right."

Albus rolled his eyes. "Only you would be okay with that."

Scorpius grinned. Any time he was called a jerk or a jackass or a prat or a douchebag, he wouldn't bother arguing that point because he knew full well what an asshole he was. He came off as overly cocky, he talked back to anyone who tried to challenge him, he lived off giving insults and not compliments, and he made crude remarks every available chance he got. But when he had come into Hogwarts, he had refused to give anyone the chance to walk all over him with any sort of impression that Malfoys were weak and spineless. He pretended to be stronger than he was. He pretended to hold his head up high. He pretended the Malfoy name didn't bother him. Because if he didn't, he would be exposed as the wounded, fragile guy he knew he was. And showing his agony or his fragility to the outside world wasn't something he was comfortable with.

"Apparently Leona Goyle is okay with it, too," Scorpius smirked, stealing a glance towards the curly-haired brunette he had been shagging over the past few days.

Albus groaned. "I thought you ditched her last year because she annoyed you."

"She only annoys me when she's talking," he said with a shrug. Truth was, if he didn't circle around to girls he had already been with, he'd be out of options. And being celibate was not something he particularly wanted to be accustomed to. "When her mouth is otherwise occupied if you catch my drift, she's not so terrible."

Albus could only groan as Scorpius returned his gaze to Leona in the corner. He had used her from time to time with sex, though he always got the distinct impression that she hoped it would one day develop into something more. But relationships were the last thing on Scorpius' mind. His parents had never babied him or spoiled him as a child so he had grown up far more independent than anyone he knew. He had become rather set in his ways early on and the idea of trying to cater to someone else wasn't appealing to him.

And then his mother left and that pretty much reinforced the idea that relationships were a complete sham. If his own mother couldn't love him, he had to believe that it wasn't worth trying to find someone else to.

"Don't get any ideas."

Scorpius jumped, tearing his eyes off of Leona to glance back over at Albus. "What?"

He smirked, nodding off in the distance towards Leona. "It's the second week of classes. Don't go skiving them off for a broom closet shag just yet. You have all year to do that."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Uh, first of all, I wasn't planning on doing that," he snorted. "And second of all, why the hell was I not planning on doing that?"

He laughed. "I guess becoming Head Boy has softened you."

"You take that back!"

Albus smirked, glancing up and waving as Rose and Alice wandered through the door. Being a Slytherin, Albus had become more accustomed to hanging out with Scorpius than the two Gryffindors, but Scorpius knew that the three of them had grown up together and that there were times Albus missed the way things used to be. Not that Albus would ever admit that aloud. While Rose Weasley was the bane of his existence, Scorpius didn't mind Alice Longbottom. For one, she was absolutely gorgeous. And two, she didn't automatically side with Rose during the infamous Scorpius-Rose bickering matches, choosing to remain neutral. Scorpius assumed that that would annoy Rose, but he had quickly learned that Rose didn't need back-up. She was perfectly content taking him on all on her own.

"Hey guys," Alice greeted, dropping into the desk in front of them. "I heard we're going to be brewing Veritaserum over the next few classes."

"Do you always know everything?" Albus said with the shake of his head.

"The perks of having her daddy as a professor," Scorpius pointed out with a smirk.

Alice rolled her eyes, but it was Rose who spoke up. "Better to have a father as a professor than a Death Eater."

" _Rose_!" Albus groaned.

Scorpius glared at the redhead. He hadn't been in her presence for longer than a minute and she was already going straight to the below-the-belt insults. "Well, looks like someone had a little too much bitch juice this morning."

"Better than the I'm-a-jackass scones you must have been munching on."

"Oh, I'm the jackass when you just insulted my family? A family, by the way, that you literally know nothing about," he warned.

"Oh, Malfoy," she said with a smirk, "When are you going to learn that your family is public knowledge thanks to their immoral exploits in the Second Wizarding War?"

"Rose, _stop_ ," Albus warned, his eyes flashing with irritation. "You hate it when people bring up your parents' actions in the war so what makes you think it's okay to do the same to Scorpius?"

"Aw, you hate being compared to your annoyingly famous parents?" Scorpius chimed in, glancing at Rose curiously. "Guess that means you've come to the realization that you'll never be as good as them?"

" _Scor_ ," Albus snapped, glaring at him.

Rose was fuming at Scorpius' words. She liked to believe she was proud to be the daughter of two-thirds of the Golden Trio but in reality, she felt like she was trying to prove to the world every single day that she wasn't just living in their shadows. "I'm Head Girl, am I not?" she snapped. "Neither of my parents can say they scraped that title."

"Yeah, well, that's probably because they were camping out in forests for most of their seventh year," he drawled.

"Saving the goddamned wizarding world that your family was so set on destroying!"

" _Guys_ ," Alice finally spoke up, stepping in between them before any hexing could occur. "You have been using these same arguments to attempt to win these pathetic fights since you were eleven-years-old. Don't you think it's time to retire the war material?"

Scorpius opened his mouth to respond but Professor Slughorn walked in at that time and began class. Since Scorpius could no longer have a battle of wits with Rose, he used the frustration surging through his veins towards beating her in class. He knew Potions was her least successful class and he used every opportunity to show her up.

They were in fact brewing Veritaserum which appeared to be a rather complicated potion. So complicated that it would take three full class periods to complete it. Which gave Scorpius three full class periods of determination to best Rose Weasley.

"Do you mind not standing there looking like a dingbat?" the same girl he had just been thinking about snarled behind him in the Potions supply closet. "Some of us would like to actually start the lesson."

He rolled his eyes, turning around to glare at her. "Why bother? You know I'll beat you anyway."

"Like hell you will," she snorted, shooting him a look, though it was an empty threat seeing as Scorpius always managed to beat her in Potions.

"Last I checked, I brewed more Os than you did last year."

"That's because I was in the bloody hospital wing for two weeks with the flu!"

He grinned. "Even my immune system knows it's better than you."

"I have no problem dumping centaur saliva down your back, Malfoy," she sneered, nodding towards the beaker to her left.

"And I'll have no problem shoving lacewings in your bra," he snapped right back, his eyebrow raising in an I-dare-you kind of way.

A smirk broke out across her face as she reached over him and grabbed a vial of dragon blood and asphodel before saying, "Who says I'm wearing a bra?" And with a suggestive wink, she whirled around and headed out of the closet.

He gaped at her, disgusted to admit that for a half second he had been turned on.

But then when he remembered it was Rose Weasley who had made the comment, he was quickly turned off.

* * *

 **Wednesday, September 11** **th** **, 7:00 PM  
** **Head Dorm**

"Another Slytherin party is going down on Friday," Albus spoke from his outstretched position on the couch in the Head Dorm.

"Of course it is. When has there ever been a Friday when there wasn't a Slytherin party?" Scorpius snorted, pulling his Potions textbook out of his bag and replacing it with his Transfiguration notes.

"Please tell me you didn't schedule patrols for that night, too."

"No way," he said, shaking his head. "I stuck two Ravenclaws on the job."

Albus' eyebrow quirked curiously.

"Well, Weasley did and I didn't argue."

Albus laughed. "You planning on dong any of the Head work this year?"

"Why bother when Weasley seems to thrive on doing all of it?" he argued. "Believe me, if I tried to throw my hat into the ring, she'd inevitably just tell me I was doing it wrong and take it on herself. So why bother trying to be nice at all when I don't have to?"

Albus let out a deep grunt. "I wasn't aware you knew how to be nice."

"I don't. And pretending to be would take too much energy out of me."

Another roll of the eyes from Albus. "Hufflepuff has the pitch tonight," he said, changing the subject. "You want to go see who their new seeker is?"

Scorpius pointed down to the bag he was currently stuffing full of books. "I'm not packing this bag just for fun, Al. I'm heading to the library."

Albus shuddered. "Seriously?" he whined. "It's the second freaking week of the term."

"Yeah, and we already got two essays and a practice exam we need to study for," he reminded him, tossing his bag over his shoulder.

"None of which are due until next week."

"I want to get a head start."

"How is it possible that you can be the popular son-of-a-bitch that you are when you spend most of your time in the library?"

"Uh, because of my dashing smile and the way my hair flips to the side like this," Scorpius said with a smirk, shaking his blonde hair from his face.

Albus snorted. "It's a good thing chicks dig arrogance," he said. "Or you'd be one hell of a lonely prick."

"It's not about arrogance. Must I reiterate my dashing smile and my perfect hair?"

"Shouldn't you be using that so-called dashing smile and perfect hair to persuade some random chick into a broom cupboard somewhere?"

"Been there, done that."

When Albus rose an eyebrow, Scorpius grinned and said, "Snuck off with Goyle after lunch today."

Albus could only chuckle as the two of them strolled out of the room. They separated at the fork in the hallway a Albus headed back to his room and Scorpius ventured towards the library. Scorpius was aware that he probably lost a few cool points by being the studious Slytherin that he was, but frankly, he made up for it with the reminder that beating Rose Weasley every chance he got was worth his nerdy tendencies and people eventually shut up about it.

As he sauntered into the library, he scowled at the immediate sight of Rose Weasley holed up at a table by herself.

"Have you considered moving your bed into the library and foregoing your room altogether?" he sneered.

She let out a groan as she glanced up from her notes. "Well, it would mean running into you less," she retaliated.

"Apparently not," he muttered irritably. "Do you already feel behind, Weaslet? Scared I'm going to beat you at every single class this year?"

"I'd like to see you try," she drawled, her eyes returning back to the cursive on the parchment.

"I don't have to try. I'm naturally intelligent," he said with a smirk, pulling a chair out across the table from her and taking a seat.

"What the hell are you doing?" she sighed.

"Sitting. If that wasn't obvious to you, I see I'll have no problem surpassing you in-"

"Why are you sitting _here_?" she snapped, not bothering to let him finish off my insult.

"Because it's oh so fun to piss you off?" he suggested with a grin.

"You know what's also fun? Hexing you into a coma."

"For sitting?" he drawled. "That's a bit extreme, don't you think?"

She tossed her quill on to the table with a frustrated sigh as she turned her glare on to him. "I'm really not in the mood for your petty quips right now."

"What, already behind in schoolwork? That's got to be a record. It's only week two."

The glare in her eyes only make the twinkle grow in his. "If you are going to sit here in silence, I suppose I can't stop you. But if you are going to continue being a snarky son of a bitch, I'd suggest finding elsewhere to occupy your time because I am not interested in bantering with you tonight."

His head cocked to the side out of pure curiosity. The clear irritation in her voice sparked slight bewilderment in his thoughts. He and Rose had spent the good part of six years arguing and while the content was malicious, the tone was always light-hearted and amusing. Yet something had clearly changed within Rose lately because her tone was nothing but cynical and bitter. "What's got your wand in a knot?" he asked. "You usually thrive on our bantering."

"I most certainly do not."

"You didn't answer the question."

"This may come as a shock to you, Malfoy, but there are far better things I could be doing with my time than beating you with witticism," she muttered. Of course she was irritated. The first prefect meeting of the year, Scorpius had to go and hex her in front of all the prefects. And if that wasn't enough, she already knew that her Veritaserum wasn't where it should have been by the end of Potions. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was being one-upped by Scorpius and he had already managed to do so far too many times in only two weeks. And to make matters even worse, she was forced to see her ex-boyfriend in all of her prefect meetings who somehow had a way of making her feel uncomfortable just by looking at her.

To sum up, her seventh year was not going at all as she had hoped.

"It's cute that you think you could beat me in anything," Scorpius smirked.

When she glanced up at him, the irritation in her eyes slowly turned into amusement. She sat back with a smirk. "I think I'll have no problem beating you if you continue to spend your free time on defiling unsuspecting skanks," she snorted. "Nice hickey by the way."

Oops. Guess Leona Goyle left a souvenir on his neck.

He grinned sheepishly, shrugging carelessly. "Jealous?"

She stuck her finger down her throat. "Not even in the slightest, Malfoy. We could be the last two people on this Earth and I'd let humanity die out before ever touching you."

"Your lips are saying no, but your eyes are saying yes."

"Then you need to get your eyes checked."

He could only grin. "If you ask me, you could use a nice shag. You are far too tightly wound for your own good."

"Not all of us solve our problems by disrespecting women, Spawn."

He scowled. One of her favorite insults was to accuse him of disrespecting women just because his sex life was hardly anonymous. It was one of the few things she could say to him that he found irritable. "I respect women just fine," he scoffed. Shrugging, he added, "Well, not you but that's only because you're a detestable bitch whose ugly freckled face isn't worth respecting."

He was not remotely surprised by the glare that settled into her expression. She knew how to push his buttons and he knew how to push hers. They had grown into real pros at pissing each other off.

"How about you take _your_ ugly face out of the library before I decide to punch it?"

"Oh, Weaslet," he smirked. "We all know my face is far from ugly. Ask any girl in the school."

"I'd much prefer to spend my time doing…well, _anything else_ ," she snapped, settling her glare on to him. "So here's the deal: you either shut the fuck up or you get the hell out. Those are your only two options. Should you choose a third, I will have no problem hexing you into the hospital wing."

Scorpius opened his mouth to retort, which would have surely ended up with Rose hexing him, so he probably should have been thankful for the timely interruption.

"Why am I not surprised to find either one of you here?"

He and Rose stopped glaring at each other long enough to glance up at the sound of Roxanne's voice. "What do you want, Roxy?" she sighed.

Her eyebrows shot up. "Well, someone is in a mood."

"That tends to happen with this prick hanging around. Habit I suppose," she snorted, glaring Scorpius' way.

"You seem to be bitchier than usual, Weasel," he snapped. "Is it your time of the month or something?"

Both Roxanne and Rose let out scowls. Evidently that was the wrong thing to say. "No, Spawn, not every girl who decides to be a bitch towards you is on their fucking period," Rose barked. "And I'd advise never suggesting as such again if you prefer not being hexed."

"This is the second time you've mentioned hexing me and yet here I am, looking rather hex-free," he pointed out with a smirk, leaning back in the chair.

"Don't tempt me," she growled.

"Haven't you two learned to steer clear of each other yet?" Roxanne muttered.

Scorpius met Rose's gaze and based on the pure hatred staring back at him, he had a strong feeling she was probably thinking the same thing that he was. "Oh, Roxinator, the fun has only just begun."

* * *

 **Friday, September 13** **th** **, 9:00 PM  
** **Head Dorm**

"No."

" _C'mon, Roe_."

"No."

"It could be fun!"

"In what world would spending my time with a bunch of stuck-up Slytherin bitches fawning over arrogant guys all while getting drunk of whiskey and gin be considered fun?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "It's not just going to be Slytherins."

"Oh, right, because that makes it better."

Alice sighed, lifting her head off the bed long enough to shoot her friend a look. "You can't just hole yourself up in your room for the entire year studying that pretty little head of yours off, Rose."

"My head _is_ pretty, isn't it?"

" _Rose_."

Rose couldn't help but chuckle at her friend's clear irritation with her. She knew perfectly well that she was a bit of a buzzkill. But she had spent a good portion of her sixth year partying and drinking and flirting and all it got her was a cheating ex-boyfriend and the wish that she could do the entire year over again. But she couldn't. However, what she could do was ensure that she wasn't going to make the same mistakes in her seventh year that she did in her sixth. Drinking only gave her hangovers. Partying only gave her lack of sleep. Flirting only gave her an ex-boyfriend. She wasn't against fun. She was just against the idea of spending time with people who instead of supporting her after her break-up with Cameron, gossiped about her humiliation as if she was just some animal at the zoo.

"I'm sorry, Ace, but I'm really not in the mood."

Alice gave Rose her best version of a puppy-dog face. "I'm not against begging."

"Beg all you want. It's not happening."

Alice pulled herself off the bed and made her way over to where Rose sat at her desk. "You can't leave me with Caddy and Shayne and they're annoying boyfriends. That's cruel and unusual punishment, Roe."

That got a laugh out of Rose. "I'm not sure that would hold up in a court of law," she teased. "Besides, if you don't want to hang out with Caddy and Shayne then just hang out with Albus. I know he's going to be there."

Alice glanced at her curiously. "Let me guess. He tried to get you to go, too."

Rose shrugged. "Tried and failed."

Alice's eyes narrowed hesitantly. "I'm totally willing to tie you up and drag you there if I have to."

"Wouldn't you much rather be tying up some poor, unsuspecting bloke?"

Alice couldn't help but grin. "Alas, that does sound like a better plan. And don't you want to be there when I try to suggest that to Chase Hartley?"

Rose laughed, glancing down at her Potions essay that she was two-thirds finished with. It was no secret that Rose hated Potions. It was her least favorite subject and the only one she actually struggled with. She was excellent when it came to logic and practicality and the use of an actual wand but Potions was about precision and meticulous concentration and a list of ingredients. Rose liked to think she was focused enough to master the art of Potions, but the truth was at any given time, there were about a million thoughts running through her mind. And none of them had anything to do with Potions ingredients.

"Oh, _fine_ ," Rose said, tossing down her quill. " _One hour_. That's all you're getting."

Alice grinned and threw her arms around her best friend. "One hour it is."

* * *

 **Friday, September 13** **th** **, 9:20 PM  
** **Slytherin Common Room**

Rose would never admit it to anyone, but she was actually having a good time. She was laughing and dancing and even had a cup of Goblin Gin and tonic in her hands. It felt good to really laugh. It had been a long time since she could recall having such a good time with a group of people she knew she was on the outside of.

When she had been dating Cameron, the two of them were considered part of the popular crowd. Everyone knew who they were and she was rarely without a companion by her side. They all spent hours on the grounds enjoying each other's company. She had a posse to hang out with in the Gryffindor Tower. She was never alone in the library. The Great Hall was filled with a flock of raucous laughter, House tables ignored.

And then she caught Cameron sleeping with Amanda Gray and suddenly, she became a nobody. That crowd disappeared. Her posse was Cameron's posse. The people she considered friends abandoned her. She was alone again.

It hadn't bothered her at the time. She was more than happy to be alone, the idea of being around a group of people who only knew her as Cameron's girlfriend putting an unpleasant feeling in her heart. But that didn't mean it hadn't hurt to just lose all the people she had spent a good portion of the year with.

She had quickly learned that the only person she could ever trust were Alice and Albus. She had known them far before Hogwarts and she'd know them after Hogwarts. And that was good enough for her.

"Oh, Merlin," Albus groaned, burying his head in his arms. "Not another one of my bloody brother's songs!"

Rose laughed as a familiar song from Lightning Strikes came on the radio. James had pretty much shocked not only his family but also the world when he announced the band he and his mates had formed back in his sixth year had gotten a record deal and they would be touring the world after he graduated. To say that people hadn't expected him to go into the Auror field with his grades and intelligence would be an understatement. Rose knew that the only reason he hadn't gone down that route was that he and his father didn't always get along and James vowed never to turn out like him.

The one and only thing that Rose and James had in common was their hesitance to be known for their surnames only. James' way of fighting it was to make a name for himself in the music industry instead. Considering James Potter managed to succeed at everything he did, it wasn't a surprise that Lightning Strikes had become a wizarding household name in no time.

"Even you can't deny they're catchy," Alice chuckled, chugging her firewhisky and cola.

Albus made a face. "Oh, I deny it. I deny it again and again!"

Alice only rolled her eyes at the Slytherin's dramatics. Everyone knew that the rivalry between James and Albus was epic. It had started on the Quidditch pitch years earlier, continued when James "accidentally" stole Albus' girlfriend, and only escalated when Albus told the press that James wet the bed until he as ten years old. Needless to say, those two weren't making amends any time soon.

Rose laughed as the two of them bickered over her cousin's fame, her eyes searching the room for nothing in particular. She saw Louis and Roxanne in the corner dancing amongst their friends. Rose quickly overlooked the fact that Cameron was in the corner chatting with Caddy and Shayne. She saw a handful of other prefects sprinkled around the room. Her eyes narrowed curiously as she noticed Lily conversing with the Brady brothers, surprised to see that Hugo was nowhere in sight.

"Aw, hell, what is my sister doing here?" Albus muttered irritably.

"Gee, do you have any siblings you don't have animosity towards?" Alice drawled.

"You're the middle child, too," Albus pointed out. "You know how it is."

"Not really considering I get along just fine with Aggie and Frankie."

"Rose, back me up here!"

Rose glanced back over at the two of them. "I'm not the middle child."

Albus let out a grunt. "Can one of you at least _pretend_ to be on my side?"

Rose and Alice exchanged an amused look, recognizing the onset of a slightly inebriated Albus. "Oh, no, not a Lightning Strikes song. SAVE MY EARS!" Alice cried out, throwing her hands up to her ears.

"And how dare Lily show up to a Slytherin party even though there are tons of Gryffindors here! THE OUTRAGE!" Rose followed.

Albus glared at the two of them. "Somehow, I feel like you two might be mocking me."

Alice slung her arm around his shoulders with a grin. "Now why would we go and do a thing like that?"

"I hate you."

"No, you don't."

Albus scrunched up his nose. "C'mon, let's dance, Ali Cat."

"I thought you hated this song."

"I do but fuck James for making it so goddamned catchy!"

Rose laughed as she watched the two of them head towards the makeshift dance floor. Glancing at the clock in the corner of the room, she deduced that she had been there for over an hour. If there was ever a time to slip out undetected by her two friends, it would be now.

Chugging the rest of her drink, she placed it on the table beside her and headed towards the door.

"Leaving so soon?"

She stiffened almost immediately, turning around to glare at Scorpius. "Y'know, I thought it was a rather successful party up until about two seconds ago."

He let out a grunt. "Why don't you like me, Weaslet?"

She blinked at the random question. Glancing at him, she saw the bloodshot eyes and the flushed cheeks and knew immediately that he was definitely drunk. "Because you're Head Boy and you're getting drunk with the general student population who you are supposed to be setting an example for, that's why."

He rolled his eyes. "If I'm not mistaken, you had a few drinks yourself," he slurred.

"I had one."

Another roll of the eyes. "So what, you're saying I'm a sloppy drunk?"

"I'm saying you're a sloppy everything," she snapped. "Now get out of my way."

She pushed past him but wasn't surprised at all that he hadn't let that be the end of their conversation. "You looked like you were actually having fun tonight. I wasn't convinced that was possible."

"I find that it's easier having fun when you're not around."

He ignored her. "I heard you laughing. Not sure I can recall the last time I heard you do that."

She was taken aback by the rather unexpected comment. "I laugh."

"Not since the incident with Zee you haven't."

She felt every limb of hers stiffen with discomfort. She knew that a part of her had changed after her seven-month relationship with Cameron had come to a screeching halt, but the fact that a guy she tried to spend as little as time as possible with picked up on it was unsettling and disturbing. She had once been the girl who wore a smile on her face just because she could. She had once been the girl who greeted everyone with a friendly hello. She had once been the girl that everyone seemed to know and like. But a broken heart was often the way to change a girl. And that's what happened to Rose. But that didn't mean she wanted Scorpius Malfoy pointing it out to her.

"Don't ever talk to me about him again," she sneered, whirling around and storming off towards the door.

Scorpius said nothing as he watched her go.

The next morning he woke up without any recollection that that conversation took place at all.

* * *

 **Tuesday, September 16** **th** **, 9:30 PM  
** **Prefect meeting**

The party had been fun up until Scorpius had to go and ruin it for her. So there she was, back to the same bad mood she had been sporting since she got back at Hogwarts. She tried shrugging it off but it followed her everywhere like an inconvenient thundercloud. Schoolwork was becoming unbearable, Quidditch practices were long and arduous, Head duties were taking up all of her time, and she couldn't get Scorpius' words out of her head no matter how hard she tried. All of it was really beginning to test her patience.

She was at the weekly prefect meeting with Scorpius and was determined not to let him get to her. It had worked for a while until Scorpius decided to spring on her that the next week's meeting had to be moved because of a Slug Club gathering.

"You're not even a part of the Slug Club," she snapped.

"No, but you are. Which is why I find it odd that you didn't consider this yourself."

"Slughorn knows when our prefect meetings are. If he wants to schedule a dinner during it, that's his prerogative but I'm not going to cater my schedule around his."

"You should, considering a handful of prefects are a part of the Club," Scorpius said with a shrug. "Do you not want your fellow prefects to be cultured?"

"What I want is for you to shut up so we can finish this meeting."

"I will once we pick a new date for the meeting."

"We're leaving the meeting as is."

Scorpius could see how much he was getting under her skin and he was getting a kind of sick enjoyment out of it. Lately, it had been so easily riling her up and he considered it rather entertaining to see how quickly he could get her to explode. "You're being unreasonable," he pointed out.

" _I'm_ being unreasonable!?" she snapped. "You're bringing up an event that has nothing to do with you just because you enjoy pissing me off!"

"Yeah, well, that is an added bonus," he smirked.

"We can't change the bloody meeting even if we tried," she growled. "With all of the Clubs and Quidditch practices, we have to adhere to the schedule. I'm pretty sure Albus would hang you out to dry if you informed him you couldn't be at practice because you had to spend an hour in a prefect meeting coming up with ways to piss me off."

"I was thinking we'd interrupt your Quidditch practice schedule, not mine."

"Well, _you're_ the one who needs the practice, not me," she snapped. "Or do you not remember that Gryffindor won the Cup last year?"

"Guys," Roxanne Weasley spoke up with a sigh before Scorpius could retaliate. "Some of us have homework we'd like to get back to. Could you two attempt to wrap it up?"

Rose was fuming as she shot her cousin a glare. She hated showing any sort of unprofessionalism, but Scorpius made it impossible keeping a cool head. "The meeting next week stands. You're all dismissed."

"Weaslet-"

"Don't," she whispered hoarsely, her eyes blazing with hatred as she looked anywhere but at him. "Just…please _don't_."

Scorpius' eyebrows shot up at the clear pleading in her voice, her words rather shaky against her tongue. Glancing at her, he could see her expression exposing an unexpected desperation and he immediately cringed. He was used to annoying her. He wasn't used to hurting her.

Once all the prefects left, she finally turned to him and said, "I can't do this for the whole year."

He frowned. "Can't do what?"

" _This_ ," she said desperately, pointing back and forth between the two of them. "You and me as Head Boy and Girl. We've only been at it for two and a half weeks and it's already exhausting."

He said nothing, uncertain how to even respond.

"Why do you always need to start something with me?" she muttered. "Just when I think I can tolerate you, you have to go and rile me up for no good reason. Even when I'm trying to mind my own business, you have to interject some pathetic dig towards me just for the fun of it. You _always_ start it."

"Oh, please, Weasley," he drawled, sending her a scathing look. "You stir up just as much trouble with me as I do with you. Don't pretend you don't find some sick enjoyment out of taunting me."

"I _don't_ ," she hissed. "You infuriate me beyond a normal infuriation level, Malfoy. You're not just some stupid Potions essay I wait until last minute to deal with. You're not just some Quidditch loss that fills me with dread. You're not my cousins who I am constantly bickering with. You are the most insufferable git on the face of this planet. You can't seem to go two seconds without finding some way of harassing me and it's getting to a point of bordering on obsession. Why is it-"

"Now, hold on there," he interrupted in a hasty snap. "I am hardly obsessed with you, Weaslet. I prefer to spend time obsessing over things worth my time and you, Rose Weasley, certainly do not belong in that category."

"And yet you always manage to find a way to piss me off at least once a day. Tell me, Spawn, why is that?"

He frowned and actually pondered the question. Because truth was, it was an excellent question. For years, he and Rose had been at each other's throats and challenged each other in every way imaginable. They were in all the same classes and made it their mission to compete for grades, they taunted one another on the Quidditch pitch, they strove for Albus' attention, and they spent their time vexing each other. They were the epitome of two people who absolutely loathed one another, yet they couldn't seem to get enough of each other at the same time. As if their days weren't complete until they found some way of triumphing over the other in any way possible. But the question still stood: _why_?

Letting out a frustrated sigh, he simply shrugged. "I hope you don't expect me to actually have an answer to that."

The irritated frown faded into one of curiosity. "Why do you hate me so much?"

"Because you hated me first," he snapped almost immediately, surprising even himself.

But he realized it was the truth. She did decide to hate him first. So of course he was going to hate her back. He wasn't about to lie down and take her animosity without throwing his own fight into the ring. If his father taught him anything worthwhile over the years it was that Malfoys always stood up for themselves.

Scorpius frowned hesitantly, remembering the first conversation he had ever had with Rose. They had successfully avoided each other on the Hogwarts Express and during the feast so their first meeting came in Herbology the next morning. Actually it came right before Herbology. Scorpius had left breakfast early to make sure he got to class on time. He had known well enough from his father that the castle was a maze and the last thing he wanted to do was get lost on his first day.

Apparently he wasn't the only one who had that though because as they strolled out to the Herbology greenhouses, already standing outside chatting were Rose, Albus, and Alice. Albus had gotten up early that morning and without saying anything to his roommates, went down to breakfast and chose to sit at the Gryffindor table with Rose and Alice instead of the Slytherins.

So of course being the prat Scorpius was (yes, even at eleven he was a bit of a jerk), he couldn't help but say, "Are you ever going to spend time with your _housemates_ , Albus?"

The threesome stopped mid-conversation to turn to the Slytherin, surprise on all of their faces. The first thing Rose ever said to Scorpius was "And why would he want to do a thing like that?"

Scorpius blinked in surprise, watching as Rose's expression turned into a glare. "Was I talking to you?"

Her jaw tightened. "Here's a thought: don't _ever_ talk to me."

Scorpius could only stare at her, the displeasure settling into his expression. "What's your problem?"

"My problem is I was having a very nice conversation with my friends here before you had to go and interrupt. So how about you _butt out_?" she snarled before turning her back on Scorpius to return to her prior conversation with Albus and Alice.

And as they often say, the rest was history.

Facing Rose now, six years after their initial encounter, he couldn't help but realize that pretty much nothing had changed between them. Which was rather pathetic seeing as they had had five years to grow up. Apparently they chose not to.

"That was five years ago," she murmured with a curt shrug, clearly agreeing with his own revelation. "We were kids. We are seventeen now, we are the Heads of this school, and yet, we are still acting like children."

Scorpius frowned irritably. It was as if Rose was reading his mind. That was not good. "Now that's not true," he argued for the sake of arguing. "We now know bigger words to insult each other with."

She glared at him. "Why do I even bother with you? It's like talking to a fucking brick wall. Except the brick wall is nicer to look at," she snapped before turning on her heel and storming off.

"Where are you going?" he groaned. "I didn't think this conversation was over!"

"I am off to go find even bigger words to insult you with, you unpalatable ignoramus!"

* * *

 **Wednesday, September 17** **th** **, 7:30 PM  
** **Quidditch pitch**

Rose couldn't get the conversation with Scorpius out of her head. It was maddening how every word he spoke could make her skin crawl without him even trying. Six years of insults and screaming matches and hexes and glares had led to an impossible partnership. She had worked so hard to become Head Girl and it was as if Scorpius was determined to undermine her authority every chance he had. All she had wanted was to prove to herself and the world that she was a worthy Head Girl but she felt like a total fraud.

" _ROSE_!"

Rose cringed at her Quidditch Captain's scream. Glancing to her right, she saw seventh-year Cody Wood flying her way and he did not look happy. "What's up, Wood?"

He glared at her. "' _What's up, Wood_?'" he repeated irritably. "How about the fact that Brady Taylor just did your fucking job for you!"

Rose glanced over to where fifteen-year-old Brady, a beater on the team, hovered with a tennis ball in his hand. She cringed. Oops. Guess the makeshift snitch was released. "I was just making sure little Brady over there was paying attention," she lied with what she hoped was an innocent grin.

"Who you calling little?"

"Where the hell is your head today because it sure as hell ain't in the game!" Cody roared.

She winced. She was already feeling inadequate as a Head Girl and now it appeared she could add Quidditch seeker to that list as well. Three weeks into school and she was ready to call it quits on all fronts. That had to be some type of record.

"Sorry, Wood," she murmured with a sigh. "You've got my full attention. Release the snitch and watch me crush it."

She flew off before he could make another comment, vowing to get Scorpius out of her head before he took over everything in her life.

"What's with you today, Rose?" her brother asked, flying beside her.

"Nothing," she lied.

He sighed. "C'mon, Rose, talk to me."

"It' really nothing," she argued with a shake of the head. "I'm just…stressed. But that's expected. It's my seventh year."

"It's three weeks into your seventh year," he spoke hesitantly. "You can't stress yourself out now or you're going to be a total zombie by the end of the year."

"I'm fine, Hugo."

He frowned. "Rose-"

"We should get back to practice before Cody finds another reason to yell at me," she urged, flying off before her brother could press the issue. Unlike some of her other cousins who were annoyed by their siblings, she actually got on well with her brother most of the time. But she had always noticed that even though she was the older sister, it often seemed as if Hugo was the one looking out for her. It was a nice gesture, especially after being a witness to the screaming matches Fred and Roxanne would get into or the actual fist fights between James and Albus or the clear divide between Louis and his two older sisters. But it was rather hard ignoring her overwhelming fear of failure when Hugo was there trying to get her to talk about it.

Hugo had tried cornering Rose after practice, but she took off towards the castle instead of making her way into the locker room with the rest of the team. Having her own bedroom had its perks and being able to shower in peace was one of them.

She muttered the password and sauntered through the door, stopping almost immediately at the sight of Scorpius heavily snogging Leona Goyle on the couch.

"Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me!?" she exclaimed in complete exasperation, storming over to the stairwell leading up to her bedroom.

The twosome jumped apart, amusement sparkling in both their eyes. "Oops," Scorpius snickered. "I thought you'd be at practice for at least another half hour."

"You thought wrong," she drawled, feeling her breaking point bubbling up inside of her.

He shrugged unabashedly. "Yeah, well, maybe being exposed to some good-natured PDA is good for you. Might loosen that stick up your arse a bit."

She'd never understand why that comment was what pushed her over the edge, but she found herself whirling around and glaring at him with a sort of hatred she was unaware she even possessed. "Let's get one thing straight, you satanic, pompous prick," she snarled, her fists clenched so tightly at her side they were turning white. "There is absolutely nothing you can say or do that is going to make me want to change my ways for you. I may be uptight and neurotic but that just means I _care_ about things. You, on the other hand, don't give a shit about anything except when you're going to get your next shag in. You're nothing but a selfish, entitled spoiled _brat_ who acts like he's better than everyone when really all he'll ever be known as is the Death Eater's son. So stop telling me to loosen up or lighten up or relax or live a little because there is not a single part of me that _ever_ wants to turn out like you. So just _fuck off_!"

She saw the flicker of shocked disbelief in his eyes for a brief moment before she turned on her heels and rushed up the stairwell to her bedroom right before the tears started to fall.

She hated crying. In her mind, it was a sign of weakness and she liked to believe she was the farthest thing from weak. But everyone had a breaking point and she had finally hit hers. As the tears slid down her cheek, she couldn't figure out why she felt so overwhelmingly frazzled. She had always been able to handle her stress well. She knew how to prioritize her time and her workload. She was good at overcoming any curveballs sent her way. She lived off of to-do lists. But dealing with Scorpius Malfoy and his mouth was not supposed to be on her to-do list and it was as if he tried to get himself on there every time he stepped into her path.

Trying to wipe the tears from her eyes, she thought back to what Scorpius had said to her about not having fun and not laughing since her very humiliating break up with Cameron. She didn't like the idea that her ex-boyfriend could have something to do with her inability to achieve success, but she also wasn't naïve enough to think that she hadn't lost a bit of herself when they broke up.

She wondered if she just had too much on her plate. Between her Head Girl duties, her classes, upcoming N.E.W.T.s, and Quidditch practice, she had no time to think for herself. And the fact that she was using all of her free time to fight with Scorpius was not how she had planned to spend her year.

Dropping on to her bed with a sob, she wondered if anyone had ever resigned from Head Girl or Boy before. It was the last thing she wanted, knowing that the press would eat up the idea of Hermione Granger's daughter unable to fulfill a mere school role and live up to the greatness that was her mother, but she couldn't stand to spend any more time around Scorpius if she could help it. She was already on the edge and it was as if he was standing behind her just waiting for the moment to push her over it.

She froze when she heard a faint knock on her door. She hastily sat up in shock, knowing full well only one person would be standing there. The one person she was trying to avoid.

"C'mon, Weaslet, open the door."

She swiped the tears from her cheeks, scrambling off the bed and glancing into the mirror in hopes that she would see no trace of tears anywhere. Her eyes looked slightly red but she forced out a fake smile as if that could hide it.

Strolling over to the door, she whipped it open. "I believe I told you to fuck off."

He frowned. "Yeah, that's kinda why I'm here."

"Because you're inclined to do the opposite of anything I ask of you?"

He sighed. "What's going on with you, Weasley?"

"Nothing," she lied.

"That lovely outburst downstairs pretty much says otherwise."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, you're used to my outbursts by now."

"That," he argued, "Was not your typical outburst. Is something wrong?"

She couldn't help the derisive snort that spilled from her lips. "Are you fucking kidding me, Malfoy? _You're_ what's wrong. You're always what's wrong. I can't get a moment of peace because you're everywhere. You're in my classes, you're in my prefect meetings, you're in the library, you're snogging in my common room, and now you're actually in my bedroom! I can't seem to get rid of you!"

He blinked hesitantly. "Technically, I'm not in your bedroom. I'm just on the landing in front of your bedroom."

She contemplated murdering him before deciding she didn't want to spend her life in an Azkaban cell. "Go to hell, Malfoy," she snapped, attempting to slam the door in his face.

He stopped it before it could. "Well, what the hell am I supposed to say to any of that, Weasley?" he sighed impatiently. "Yeah, we are unfortunately forced to spend a lot of time together but it's not like we can do anything to change that."

She could feel the prickle of tears stinging the back of her eyes again because while he apparently didn't seem to find their less than ideal partnership to bother him, all it did was bother her. It was yet another example of how she seemed to care and he never would.

"I can resign."

He could only stare at her, unsure he heard her right. "Come again?"

She hesitated before shrugging. "I'm done," she spoke softly. "You win. Congratulations."

That time she did succeed in slamming the door in his face. And for the second time that night, she succumbed to her tears.

* * *

 **A/N:** Clearly Rose doesn't deal with stress well...


	4. Hexed into a Coma

**A/N:** Who read **HP and the Cursed Child?** What did you think?

 **Disclaimer:** J.K. Rowling may be done with Harry Potter but I'm sure not.

* * *

 **A Different Kind of Love Story**

Chapter 3: Hexed into a Coma

By ByeByeBirdie

* * *

 **Thursday, September 18** **th** **, 7:10 AM  
** **Head Dorm**

Rose tossed and turned throughout the night, not sure that resigning from Head Girl would ultimately be the answer. But if it got her far away from Scorpius, it was definitely an option worth considering. She hated the idea of being deemed a failure but she was at her wit's end. She needed to survive her seventh year, not drown in it.

It was early the next morning when Rose slipped out of her room in hopes of avoiding Scorpius before heading to breakfast. It would have worked, too, had she not tripped over a stack of papers that was piled high on the landing.

" _Shit_ ," she moaned when the papers spilled down the stairs. She started grabbing at them but froze when she realized what she was looking at. They were the detention slips the prefects handed into the Heads during the last meeting and every single one of them was marked in red and initialed by Scorpius. She had taken on the duty of reviewing the detention slips from day one since it had been clear Scorpius couldn't be bothered with it. Until today.

\This was clearly\ his peace offering.

She flipped through the pile, seeing notes and comments on the occasional slip. Glancing through it, she knew he must have stayed up pretty late doing it. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to feel pleased or grateful but in a way, she did feel a small weight being lifted off her shoulders. He had at least heard what she was saying the night before. It was a step in the right direction.

She collected the stack of papers and tossed them into her bag to hand over to McGonagall later. She was halfway to the door when she heard footsteps coming from the other side of the room. She froze, glancing to her right as Scorpius sauntered into the common room. He didn't notice her at first but halted like a deer in headlights when he did.

"Weasley," he eventually said hesitantly.

She blinked, not sure what to say. "You're up early," she spoke awkwawrdly.

"I'm always up this early."

"Oh," she murmured. "I'll have to remember that."

He said nothing, his eyes flickering hesitantly towards the door.

"I didn't mean to blow up at you last night," she blurted out.

His eyebrows shot up. "Yeah, you did," he chuckled.

She hesitated before shrugging. "Yeah, okay, I did. I've just been…"

"Stressed out?"

She scrunched her nose. "Try completely and utterly stressed out nearing the point of hyperventilation."

" _Nearing_ hyperventilation?" he snorted. "I'm pretty sure you surpassed that last night."

She rolled her eyes. "Have you ever not been a sarcastic prick?"

"Nah, I was born this way."

"Only you would be proud of that," she muttered irritably, turning on her heel and heading out before he could get in another word.

She momentarily forgot that they were heading in the same direction as she heard his footsteps following her. Sighing, she slowed down and reluctantly let him fall into step with her. Neither spoke, the awkward tension growing with every step they took.

"Just because you finally pulled your weight doesn't mean I'm going to hate you any less," she said when the silence was too much to bear.

Scorpius frowned. He had been hoping she wouldn't bring up the detention slips. "I would hope not."

"Any chance you're going to continue partaking in some of the Head duties?"

"We'll see how I feel next week."

She rolled her eyes but dropped the subject.

"Don't resign."

She blinked, glancing at him curiously. "What?"

He shrugged. "You didn't spend six years working your arse off just so you could throw it away in the first month of being Head Girl."

"Yeah, well, when I was working my so-called arse off all those years, it never occurred to me that being Head Girl meant working with the likes of you."

"How could it not?" he snorted. "We have been the top two students in our class since first year. You had to know that you getting that Head Girl title meant working side-by-side with me."

"That's not what I meant," she sighed.

When she didn't explain herself, he rolled his eyes. "Okay, then what did you mean?"

She said nothing, a frown seeping into her expression. For the past six years, a part of her was striving for the best to outcompete Scorpius but that only accounted for a rather tiny reason behind her studious ways. If Scorpius hadn't proven to be a challenge, she still would have striven for the best. She had known at a young age that she had clearly inherited her mother's intelligence and she wanted to prove to herself and to the world that she wasn't just her mother's daughter but that she was the best in her class because _she_ worked for it. It was easy for people to look at her and think she was a combination of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger but she also wanted people to look at her and think she was incredibly gifted because of her own skillsets. She wanted people to see her. Not her surname.

"Nothing," she lied, shrugging. "Never mind."

His eyes narrowed but he sensed the burden in her tone and decided it was better not to push it. He didn't want to give her any further reason to be pissed off at him. "I've just never seen a challenge you couldn't overcome, Weasel," he said instead.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, a slow smirk spreading across her lips. "Oh, is that what you are? A challenge?"

He rolled his eyes. "I was referring to the Head Girl position."

"It's not the position that's a challenge. It's you," she snorted.

He let out an exasperated sigh. "Yes, I'm quite aware that you think I'm the devil. But I'm trying here."

"Yeah, and how long will that last?" she teased.

"Probably only until we get to breakfast."

She shrugged. "Great, so I only have about five minutes left where I might not want to throttle you just by looking at you."

"Ah, sweeter words have never been spoken."

She rolled her eyes at him. Everything was always one big joke to him.

As they trekked down the stairwell towards the Great Hall, Scorpius once again said, "Don't resign, Weasel."

She frowned, glancing at him hesitantly before nodding. "I won't. But I'm not agreeing because you asked me to. I'm agreeing because when McGonagall writes to my parents letting them know of my decision and why, there's a good chance my father would come barreling through here ready to kill you with his bare hands and I don't really fancy having to visit my father in prison for the rest of his life."

He gawked at her but before he could come up with a witty retort, she simply smirked and wandered into the Great Hall without him.

One thing was for sure. Rose Weasley certainly knew how to make a dramatic exit.

* * *

 **Thursday, September 18** **th** **, 9:56 AM  
** **Transfiguration classroom**

"Talk to me, dear cousin," Albus spoke as he slipped into the empty chair beside Rose in Transfiguration.

She glanced up from her notes with a quirked eyebrow. "About anything in particular or will the weather suffice?"

"Hugo said something's off about you."

Rose scowled. "The bloody prat should mind his own business."

"Roxanne confirmed it."

"Another person who should mind her own business."

"C'mon, tell Therapist All what's bothering you," he grinned, elbowing her in her side.

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, yes, I wasn't in the best of moods yesterday but I have since mellowed out."

Albus blinked in disbelief. "Yeah, no offense, but the word 'mellow' and 'Rose' don't exactly go together."

She shot him a look. "You sound like Malfoy."

"No, I sound like every person in the world who's ever met you."

"I was having a bad day," she argued. "Hell, a bad week. Actually, a bad month. But-"

"Month's not over yet."

She rolled her eyes. "You know why I'm in a bad mood? Because people keep commenting on it," she argued, her eyes narrowing into dangerous slits.

"Aha! So you admit you're still in a bad mood!"

She glared at him. "Sometimes I wonder why I bother calling you my best friend."

"Ah, I wonder the same thing every day about him, too," a new voice chimed in as Scorpius strolled up to the table. "You're not going to make me sit next to Longbottom today, are you, Potter?"

"Oy, what's wrong with that!?" Alice scoffed as she sauntered over to them.

"It's a lot less fun rating girls' arses with an actual girl."

While Rose and Alice just looked at him in incredulous disgust, Albus couldn't help but burst into laughter. "That is the most chauvinistic thing I've ever heard," Alice drawled.

"It wouldn't be if you knew you're always rated a solid nine."

"No, it definitely still would—wait, a _nine_? That's it?" she scoffed.

"That's a high rating, Longbottom. Most girls don't get anything more than a five."

Rose's eyes were ready to fall out with all of her eye-rolling as Alice responded. "This arse is a very firm _ten_ , thank you very much!"

Scorpius stepped backward and glanced down at it, earning a smack to the head from Alice herself. "Well, you got one thing right," Scorpius smirked, rubbing the back of his head. "It certainly is firm."

Alice found herself laughing while Rose rolled her eyes again, ignoring the upward twitch of her lips. "This conversation may be one of the most disturbing conversations I've ever been a part of," she drawled.

"Don't you want to know what your rating is, Weaslet?"

"Not even in the slightest," she sighed. "Now, Al, vacate that seat so Alice can take it over and we can talk about how perverted seventeen-year-old boys truly are."

"We are not!" Albus scoffed.

Scorpius snorted, glancing towards his mate. "Oh, please Al, we all know it's true."

Albus rolled his eyes. "That wasn't a compliment, mate."

"No, it was fact," Rose interjected with a scoff. "Now seriously, _why_ are you two still standing here?"

"Al's actually sitting."

Rose glared at Scorpius. "Unless you want to be hexed, I'd consider walking away right now."

He rolled his eyes. "My, aren't you ever the annoying one today," he snorted as he turned his back and walked off.

Rose merely shrugged. Even with his usual snarky comment, he still listened to her and walked away. That had to be a first.

* * *

 **Saturday, September 20** **th** **, 2:30 PM  
** **Hogwarts grounds**

" _Albus Severus_."

Albus jumped, glancing over towards Scorpius who sat scowling at him. "What's with using my middle name, Scorpius Hyperion?"

"Well calling out 'Al' for the past five minutes has done nothing. What are you staring at?"

Albus glanced over to where Rose and Alice sat by the lake. "Something's up with Rose."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Let me give you some advice, Potter," he drawled. "Something is always up with birds and the general male population will never be privileged enough to know why."

Albus shot him a look. "Hugo said she wasn't herself at Quidditch and she usually thrives on the pitch. And Roxanne mentioned the same thing and also said she seemed angrier at the prefect meeting, more so than usual. I just feel like she's bit a bit on edge lately."

Scorpius grimaced. Just what he needed. Albus finding out he got under his cousin's skin so much she was seconds away from resigning. "Maybe she was just having a bad week."

"Maybe," he said but he wasn't convinced.

Scorpius frowned. "Are you going to be moody until you find out what's got your cousin's knickers in a twist?"

"I'd prefer not to think about my cousin's knickers at all, but yes, basically."

Scorpius let out a frustrated grunt. "Let me give you a hint: the girl can't stand me."

Albus blinked, slowly glancing over at him with a hesitant grimace. "You're saying her recent bad mood was because of you?"

He shrugged. "We talked it out. We're fine."

Albus scowled. "What the hell did you do to her, mate?"

"Who said I did anything?"

"Besides the fact that you always do?"

"I didn't do anything out of the ordinary!" he scoffed. "I annoyed her and instead of just annoying me back, she flipped out. I'm pretty sure she's PMSing or something."

"Please tell me you did not just say that."

"That's always the answer when they go off script, mate."

"It's a wonder why girls always call you a pig."

Scorpius smirked, shrugging unabashedly. "I worked it out with your hormone-crazed cousin, alright? So stop worrying about her."

"How did you work it out?"

"What?"

He shrugged. "You two don't work things out. You either hex each other or storm off. So I ask, how did you work it out?"

"We just did," he grunted, letting his gaze fall on to the redhead across the grounds. She was currently laughing at something Alice said. He couldn't tell Albus that he had actually felt guilty about Rose's outburst and decided it was time to pull his weight. Considering he made it known to all that Rose Weasley couldn't get under his skin, he was not about to admit that for the first time in six years, she did.

"But you two are still planning on arguing with each other over the pettiest of things, right? Because I don't think I could take it if you two started being nice to each other."

"Aren't you always asking us to be nicer?" Scorpius snorted.

"Yeah, but I never once thought you'd listen to me!"

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Well, you don't have to worry about that. Weaslet and I will bicker until the day we die."

"Any chance that day is sooner rather than later for you?" the familiar voice of the redhead they were previously discussing chimed in.

Both boys glanced up as Rose and Alice strolled up to them, the former wearing a teasing smirk. "Ah, the day isn't complete without a death threat from the small-chested redhead herself."

"That wasn't a death threat. That was a mere comment," she drawled.

"Yeah, I definitely don't have to worry about any lack of bickering between you two," Albus sighed, rolling his eyes.

Rose's brow furrowed curiously. "Was that ever something to be worried about? We wouldn't last ten minutes without bickering."

Albus shook his head, not bothering to get into it. "Nope, just glad to see that nothing has changed between you two."

Scorpius threw a forced grin of sheepishness on his face as Rose scowled at him, her eyes narrowing. "What the hell are you telling him, Spawn?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Nothing. Oh, except the fact that you're secretly in love with me."

Both Alice and Albus burst into laughter at the ridiculousness of that very statement but Rose's eyes only grew with rage. "Pretty sure I wanted to resign as Head Girl because I not so secretly _hate you_."

"A pretty good cover-up, if you ask-"

"Wait, _what_?" Alice interjected, her eyes growing with shock as she glanced towards her best friend. "You wanted to resign from your position? You've been working towards that ever since you stepped foot in Hogwarts back on that very first day."

Rose frowned bitterly, shooting a glare towards Scorpius. "Yeah, well, working with Malfoy made it far below satisfactory."

"You actually wanted to quit because of a guy who isn't worth a second of your time?" she questioned further.

"Hey!"

Alice shot him a look. "No offense of course, Scorpius."

"Offense taken!"

"Look, it doesn't matter why I wanted to resign because I decided against it," Rose sighed. "I was just having a not-so-great week and in a moment of weakness, I thought resigning would make things easier."

"Oh, Merlin, I could see the headlines now: Golden Duo's Daughter Can't Hack it as Head Girl. Brings Shame to the Wizarding World," Albus muttered.

Rose scoffed. "That would have hardly brought shame on to our world!"

"Well, of course not," he said with a sheepish grin. "But that wouldn't stop the _Daily Prophet_ from writing it."

"Oh, yes, I can see it now. The follow-up article would have said that Hermione Granger disowned you for being such a failure," Alice added.

"Oy, don't encourage Al," Rose whimpered.

"Calling you a failure isn't encouragement. That's just a fact," Scorpius drawled with a yawn.

Rose glared at Scorpius. "We'll see about that when I steal the snitch from underneath your nose again at next weekend's Quidditch match."

Scorpius' fists clenched. "Is there any particular reason you decided to grace us with your presence?" he scoffed. "Al and I were having a perfectly good conversation before you decided to butt your ugly nose into it."

Rose rolled her eyes. "It's not you I'm gracing my presence with," she snapped. "It's Al because Hugo has informed me that Al is still worried about me. Why the hell do all of you insist on using a middle man? What is wrong with talking to me directly?"

"Because you're frightening when you get angry," Alice chimed in with a teasing grin. "You've definitely inherited the Weasley temper."

Rose glared at her. "You're not helping."

"I didn't tell Hugo to seek you out and talk to you," Albus argued, rolling his eyes. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't already stressing out about N.E.W.T.s or the next nine months were going to be extremely long."

"You may know you're going to go off and be a famous Quidditch player and therefore, N.E.W.T.s are the last thing on your mind, but some of us need to keep up our good grades to ensure optimal career choices after school," Rose sighed.

"Right, like your mother couldn't just buy you whatever career you want," Scorpius drawled with a roll of the eyes.

That comment struck a very big nerve with Rose. "And I bet you're planning to go into the family business. Oh, no, that's right, Death Eaters aren't _relevant_ anymore."

" _Rose_ ," Albus groaned, smacking his palm to his head.

Scorpius' hands clenched at his side and it took everything in him not to hex the redhead right then and there. "If you picked up a paper now and again, you'd know my father's apothecary provides two-thirds of the healing potions to St. Mungo's."

"Only two-thirds, hm?" she smirked. "Not good enough for that final third?"

"Why you little-"

"And I guess this means you're just dying to be a potioneer yourself?" she continued, cutting him off. "Like father, like son, hm?"

Scorpius' mouth grew into a thin line. The last thing he wanted to be was his father. But he wasn't about to tell her that. "What I want to do after Hogwarts is none of your concern."

Rose smirked, picking up on the clear irritation in his voice. "Aw, does wittle Scorpius have Daddy issues?"

"Rose," Albus warned in a dangerously low voice.

Rose glanced at him hesitantly, sensing the threat in his tone. The warning look on Albus' face told Rose to let it go so she simply shrugged. "C'mon, Ace, I suddenly have a desire to be anywhere but here," she drawled, grabbing her friend's arm and heading towards the castle entrance.

Silence fell over the two Slytherin boys as Scorpius attempted to subside his tense demeanor.

"She shouldn't have said that," Albus spoke softly.

Scorpius' fists slowly unclenched as he offered his mate a shrug. "Whatever. Her words mean nothing," he lied as he always did when conversations began to surround the subject of his father. Scorpius was aware that Albus knew of his distaste for his father but he supposed that being mates with someone for six years made them privy to all kinds of information, even if Scorpius preferred to keep that information hidden.

Albus knew Scorpius wasn't being truthful but he also knew harping on it would only make Scorpius angrier. "C'mon," he urged with a stifled yawn. "We have Quidditch practice in an hour."

Scorpius glanced up at Albus curiously. "You want to toss around a quaffle for a while before the rest of the team shows up?"

"Yeah, let's go."

* * *

 **Sunday, September 21** **st** **, 3:00 PM  
** **Gryffindor Tower**

"Five galleons says Louis is going to set the curtains on fire."

"Two says Roxanne laughs at him when he does."

Alice grinned. "You're on."

Rose laughed as the two of them watched her younger cousins play a rather volatile game of Exploding Snaps with the other sixth years. They had six decks of cards for nine of them and the explosions continued to grow with every round. Seeing as they were in the corner of the room by the window, betting on the outcome of the hanging curtains was an obvious choice to Rose and Alice.

"So are you ever going to tell me why you were considering resigning?"

Rose glanced towards her best friend with a hesitant frown. She thought back to the past couple of weeks before thinking back on her break-up with Cameron. "Tell me, Ace," she murmured, "Do you think I'm a different person now than who I was with Cameron?"

Alice stared at her in bewilderment. It was a rare occasion for Rose to mention her ex-boyfriend. "Different how?"

"I-I don't know. I was hoping you might."

Alice's brow furrowed. "You loved him," she murmured, cringing as she said it. "People tend to act differently when they're in love."

"Happier you mean?"

Alice blinked. "Is that what you think? That you were happier then?"

"Merlin, no. I'm much happier now that I've gotten rid of him," she argued, shaking her head. "I just…I feel like a lot has changed. And I can't figure out if it's me that's changed or just everything in general."

"We're seventh years," Alice said as if Rose needed any reminding. "Things are bound to change. It's not like we have another year of school to rely on."

Rose made a face. "Ugh, don't remind me."

Alice laughed. "We still have nine more months until we have to worry about it."

Rose shrugged. She'd like to think she had nine months but something told her that they would all be forced to think about it a lot sooner than expected.

"Why were you asking me about Cameron?"

Rose glanced over at her. "Hm?"

"I asked why you didn't tell me you were considering resigning, and you brought up Cameron," she clarified. "Why?"

Rose grimaced. To tell her that she brought up Cameron because of a drunken remark from Scorpius about how she seemed different which ultimately led her to wonder if that was the reason behind her persistent bad mood seemed like a rather detailed narrative that didn't even make much sense in Rose's mind.

Hell, the fact that Scorpius said anything that struck a real nerve with her made even less sense.

"How the hell did I manage to party half of my sixth year away and still scrape out Os on all of my final exams but I'm only a month into school and I can't handle all of my responsibilities?" Rose said instead.

Alice glanced at her curiously as she pondered the question. "Because keeping a healthy buzz on alcohol is the answer to success?"

Rose burst out into laughter, quickly joined in by her friend. "Somehow I _don't_ think that's it, Ace."

Alice chuckled. "Well, it probably helped that you didn't have to rely on Scorpius Malfoy for anything last year."

"Well, that's not true. I could rely on him to make me so angry that I'd hex him."

Alice shot her a look.

Rose grinned sheepishly. "But yes, working side-by-side with noneother than the guy who's made my life miserable all these years is not ideal."

"You want my advice?"

"Is your advice to kill him in his sleep? Because I've considered that."

Alice looked like she was torn between laughing and glaring at her. She went with the former. " _No,_ " she urged. "My advice is to find a way to be able to work together. Whether you call a truce during meetings or you agree to a certain number of insults when you are going through patrols schedules or you swear of all hexing this year, you've got to come up with something or your desire to resign isn't going to go away anytime soon."

Rose frowned but said nothing, knowing that her friend was probably right. Just because she and Scorpius had gotten over their first hump didn't mean that there weren't other humps on the horizon. But the idea of trying to come up with a plan to work together seemed impossible. It was just another recipe for disaster.

She leaned back against the couch with a sigh. "Wouldn't it just be easier to kill him in his sleep?"

Alice responded with a laugh at the same time that the common room exploded with shouts of surprise. The two girls glanced towards the commotion in confusion before exchanging a look and bursting into uncontrollable laughter.

The curtains were on fire and Roxanne was laughing at Louis.

Just another day for the Weasleys.

* * *

 **Sunday, September 21** **st** **, 6:00 PM  
** **Head Dorm**

Scorpius was on his way out of the room when Rose walked in. Like usual, he barely acknowledged her as he slid past her towards the door. Not like usual, Rose stopped him.

"We need to learn how to get along."

Scorpius blinked, slowly turning around to stare at her. "Come again?"

"We need to learn how to get along."

"Oh, so that is what you said. I thought I needed to clean my ears."

She glared at him. "I mean it. We both know that you're just going to find some way to screw up at Head Boy again and I'd rather not have to threaten you with resigning each and every time you do."

His fists clenched by his side. "You say we should learn how to get along and then you turn around and insult me, Weasley. Mixed signals much?"

She rolled her eyes. "Force of habit I suppose."

Scorpius let out a frustrated grunt, folding his arms across his body as he leaned up against the door. "What are you proposing?"

She frowned. "I'm not proposing anything. I was hoping you might have an idea."

"You thought _I_ might have an idea on how to better get along with the devil? That's laughable."

"Oh, good, more insults."

"Calling you the devil isn't an insult. It's true."

She threw her arms in the air with a disgruntled cry. "Oh for the love of Circe, never mind!" she groaned. "I'm sorry I brought it up!"

She stormed up the stairs and disappeared into her bedroom.

Scorpius stood there with a smirk on his face as he watched her go. "Well, I think that went rather well."

* * *

 **Sunday, September 21** **st** **, 10:42 PM  
** **North Tower**

Scorpius was supposed to be on patrols, but Leona Goyle gave him an offer he couldn't refuse, which is how he ended up in the North Tower snogging her brains out.

Their clothes were strewn around the room and they were pressed up against the cool of the window, his mouth trailing down Leona's neck towards her exposed breasts. His tongue teased her right nipple and elicited a low moan from the brunette. Scorpius only smirked when her hands slowly drifted down his bare abdomen towards his already unzipped jeans.

Her mouth was wrapped around his dick when a loud screech filled the stairwell. "GET YOUR ARSE DOWN HERE, MALFOY!"

" _Fucking hell_ ," he swore at the familiar sound of Rose's voice, gesturing for Leona to hurry up.

She smirked and continued running her tongue down his hardened cock, but Rose only continued to scream. "I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T COME DOWN, I'M COMING UP THERE!"

Leona let out a low grown. "What in Merlin's name is Weasley doing here?" she groaned, removing her mouth.

"A damned good question," he growled. Balling his hands into aggravated fists, he reluctantly reached down for his boxers and threw them on.

"What are you doing?" Leona hissed.

He shot her a look. "I'd prefer not to walk out of here with no clothes on, Goyle."

"Then don't walk out of here at all," she whispered into his ear, her tongue running alongside her jawline until she captured his mouth with hers.

More screeching. "You're already late to patrols, Malfoy, so get the fuck down here _now_!"

He swore he was going to punch Rose Weasley in the mouth to shut her up if she kept this up.

Throwing on his shirt and zipping his pants up, he rushed down the stairwell with Leona right behind him. Meeting Rose at the bottom of the stairwell, Scorpius sent her a rather scathing look. "You have the worst timing, Weaslet."

"Then next time don't choose to partake in your sexual activities when you're supposed to be on rounds," she snapped.

"Why are you even here?" he snapped. "I'm supposed to be doing patrols with Edwin Halcourt."

"Zoe Marx caught him cheating on her and proceeded to knock him unconscious. He's in the hospital wing right now," she drawled. "So I'm forced to fill in."

"So go ahead and fill in. I think you could manage to do them yourself."

"And I think _you_ could manage to spend five minutes away from your annoying girlfriend."

"Fuck you, Rose," Leona sneered with crossed arms.

"She's not my girlfriend," he was quick to correct, earning him a glare from both of them.

"I don't care what she is," Rose snapped. "Say good-bye to the devil-"

" _Fuck you, Rose!"_

"-and let's get going," she snarled, turning on her heel and storming off down the hallway.

He let out an irritated groan before reluctantly following.

"You're actually going after her?" Leona snapped.

He frowned. "I have to or I have a feeling she'd be more than pleased to report me to Headmistress McGonagall."

"You take this whole Head Boy thing too seriously."

He sighed. "Trying to," he muttered before pressing a chaste kiss to her cheek and rushing after Rose.

He caught with her a few minutes later leaning up against a pillar in the castle entranceway. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up," she drawled irritably, before turning on her heel and heading up the main stairwell.

He shrugged. "How did you even know where to find me?"

"It wasn't that difficult," she drawled. "Considering you're always off with some girl and the North Tower appears to be a favorite hook-up spot for you. Personally, I think you could do better than choosing to shag the biggest bitch in the school."

"If I were shagging the biggest bitch in the school, it'd be you I'd be groping in the North Tower," he snorted.

She recoiled in disgust. "Are you trying to make me puke?"

He only smirked. "Please, like you haven't thought about it," he teased. "Considering the slag you truly are, I know fantasies about me have crossed your mind."

She glared at him, expectedly so. " _I'm_ the slag when I just caught you with your pants down in a not-so-secret Tower?"

He shrugged. "I noticed you didn't deny the part about having fantasies about me."

Her face was growing red with anger. "You are a crude good-for-nothing arrogant son-of-a-bitch who has _no_ redeeming qualities in any form of the word. Please, I have a lot more respect for myself than to stoop to the level of such filth."

"Then whose level are you stooping to, Weasel, because I don't see a whole lot of guys showing any interest in you."

The anger in her face faded into what Scorpius could only describe was actual hurt so he wasn't that surprised when she immediately hastened her pace in an attempt to get away from him.

"Oh, _c'mon_ , Weasel," he groaned, chasing after her. "Learn to take a joke!"

"I'm not in the mood for your jokes right now, Malfoy," she snapped, turning to glare at him. Not that she would have said anything to the contrary, but there were a handful of guys that had shown interest in her but she barely took notice. After her crushing break-up at the end of the prior year, her heart just wasn't into the whole dating concept. "Is it even remotely possible for you to shut up for the next twenty minutes so we can just finish these patrols without either one of us being hexed?"

He could only roll his eyes. "Why must you always be so serious. Do you even know how to have fun?"

"I have to imagine that my idea of fun is very different from yours."

He let out a frustrated sigh. "Alright, then tell me. What's your idea of fun, Weasel?"

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "What happened to my whole suggestion about keeping quiet?"

"I ignored it. I often do when you're talking."

She scowled at him, only growing more irritated by the chuckle falling from his lips. "You say I'm always so serious but did you ever think that maybe you're the one who needs to consider changing his ways?"

"No, that thought has never crossed my mind."

"Not everything is fun and games," she continued, ignoring his comment completely. "Not everything can be resolved with a joke or a laugh. Maybe it's worked thus far but you're less than nine months away from entering the Real World where you're going to be forced to buckle down."

"Bloody hell, you sound like my father," Scorpius sneered before realizing what he just said.

Her eyebrow shot up curiously. "Well, someone might as well care about your future since you clearly don't."

He glared at her. "My father doesn't give a shit about my future. All he cares about is making sure I preserve the so-called Malfoy name."

She was surprised by the slight hostility in his voice, but brushed it off when she said, "Didn't realize that was a name worthy of being preserved."

Scorpius' fists clenched at his sides. "Yes, I know perfectly well what you think of my family, Weasel," he snapped. "Now, I'm ready to go with your silence suggestion."

Rose sighed as she watched him take the stairs by twos, his turn to try rushing away from her. "I don't know enough about your family to have an opinion," she called after him.

He let out a snort, turning around to glare at her. "Yet you seem to love reminding me that I come from Death Eater blood."

"That's not an opinion. It's a fact."

"Fuck you, Weasley," he snarled before hightailing it down the hall again.

"To use your famous words against you, Malfoy, _lighten_ _up_!"

" _No_ ," he hissed. "You don't get to use my family's past against me and act like I'm the one in the wrong here!"

"Right, because you don't love the opportunity to use my family's past against me every chance you get?" Rose muttered.

He hesitated at the end of the hall, slowly turning around to face her. "You know how you suggested we try getting along? Talking about our families' pasts isn't helping."

She frowned, meeting the clear anger in his eyes before sighing. "I know," she muttered.

He grunted. "Then why is it that all of our conversations inevitably come back to our parents' discretions?"

She shrugged. "Because we both know how much bringing it up riles each other up. It's an easy insult."

He considered her words, knowing that there was a sort of ease about insulting her using the Golden Trio to do so. It was clear she didn't like to be compared to them and he knew all too well what it was like to be compared to your parents. But he was not about to get into a heart-to-heart conversation about, so he instead forced out a flippant grin and said, "You calling me easy?"

She rolled her eyes at the sexual implication. "How quickly you go from angry to sarcastic."

"Who says I was being sarcastic?" he smirked, poking her in the ribs.

She swatted him away. "True. Everyone in this school knows how easy you are. Personally, I prefer to actually have some self-respect but to each their own."

He blinked in surprise. "Excuse me?

She only shrugged as the two of them continued their trek down the hallway. "I don't need the validation from the opposite sex to appreciate who I am, Malfoy. You, on the other hand, seem to thrive on sleeping with girls as a backwards way of feeling better about yourself."

"That has nothing to do with validation," he argued, glaring at her. "I don't need sex as a form of self-respect. But if a girl throws herself at me, who the hell am I to turn down an easy lay?"

She rolled her eyes. "That's the difference between men and women. Girls are just toys for you to play with and discard when you get bored. You guys couldn't care less about who you're sleeping around with. Emotions are never part of your decisions as long as you can get laid. Girls on the other hand need to have some sort of connection and attraction before throwing themselves into bed with some guy. They're not about to give it up for any bloke on the street just because they send one lustful look their way."

Sadly, he couldn't exactly argue with the way she was depicting the male mind. But he had a few arguments for her depiction of the way girls view sex. "Haven't you ever heard of a one-night stand?" he snorted. "Girls whore themselves out all the time."

"Yes, but to guys they actually like," she argued, shaking her head. "Guys they're attracted to. Guys they have a connection with. They actually bother to learn the guy's bloody name, which is not something I can say about your gender."

He opened his mouth to respond again, but found himself unable to form an argument. Which irritated him more than anything. He refused to live in a world where Rose Weasley was right.

Seething, he decided it was time to prove her wrong.

He stopped in the middle of the hallway, sidestepping in front of her with a sly smirk. He leaned in and asked, "You really think that girls need to have some sort of attraction with the guy in order for them to want to be sexual with them?"

Her eyes narrowed and Scorpius had a feeling she was suspicious of why he was invading her personal space. "Oh, look, you do know how to listen," she snorted, rolling her eyes at him. "Yes, Malfoy, that's exactly what I'm saying. Are you stalling because you know it's true?"

"No, I just love proving you wrong."

"And how the hell are you-"

He cut her off by kissing her.

Honestly, he had expected it to be revolting. He wasn't going to deny that Rose Weasley was unfortunately a good-looking girl, but her tense personality and her constant need to challenge him was unnerving and enough to make him hate her. So he expected to hate snogging her.

Turns out, he didn't hate it nearly as much as he anticipated.

Instinctively, he found himself pushing her up against the stone wall, practically crushing her body with his as his lips raided hers. She stiffened for a mere moment before he was shocked and yet amused to find her lips moving with his.

He felt something deep within him flutter with yearning, which he later only realized perpetuated Rose's stereotype of men not needing to like or care about the girl they were engaging with. Damn, he really hated it when she was right!

His hands roamed upwards into her hair as he felt her press her pelvis against his. Taking that as a good sign, he slipped his tongue into her mouth and smirked as she tangled her own with his. She tasted like mint mixed with lemon, a rather alluring combination, as they continued to snog roughly in the middle of an open hallway.

When he finally pulled away from her only because he needed to breathe, he knew a smirk was resting on his face. He didn't get to say anything, however, before Rose was slapping his chest and pushing him away with a glare, saying, "What the hell was that!?"

"That, m'dear Weaslet, was the best snog you've ever had."

The rage in her eyes only grew. "In your dreams, Malfoy."

"Nah, I prefer not to be repulsed in my dreams."

Her fists clenched by her side as she scurried away from the wall, her lips slightly swollen with desire. "Seriously, Malfoy, what the hell are you playing at?"

"I was just proving a point," he said with a shrug.

"Like how to be hexed into a coma by your worst enemy?" she barked.

"Funny, I don't feel like I'm in a coma," he mused sarcastically. "In fact, I feel rather pleased with myself. You could have hexed me or slapped me or punched me, but did you do any of that? No. What you did do was kiss me back."

She opened her mouth to argue, but no words came out. Fuck, she _really_ hated it when he was right.

"Can't deny it, hm?" he smirked. "Guess you really _don't_ need to have an attraction to the guy in order for you to share a snog session."

She glared at him, her eyes blazing with hatred. "You caught me off-guard!" she snapped, her face turning a slight shade of red at the realization that she had indeed kissed him back.

"Oh, sweetheart, don't pretend as if you didn't like it."

Her eyes narrowed into angry slits. "I am so not your sweetheart," she snarled.

"Good thing, you're not really my type," he drawled. "I much prefer…well, anyone but you."

"And yet you were the one who attacked me with your lips," she snorted.

He smirked. "And _you_ were the one that liked it."

Growling, she took a step closer to him and he winced slightly, expecting her to slap him. Instead she got eerily close to his face and said in a low warning tone, "Let's get one thing straight, Malfoy. If you _ever_ come near me with your lips again, I will curse off your balls and cut out your tongue. And don't think I won't do the same if you dare mention this to anyone."

With one final glare, she was turning on her heel and storming off down the hallway.

Guess he was stuck finishing rounds by himself.

But at least he could do them with the knowledge that he had been right and Rose Weasley had been wrong. If that couldn't put a smile on his face, nothing ever could.

* * *

 **A/N:** Oooooooh, now what's going to happen between them!?


	5. Lose the Towel

**A Different Kind of Love Story**

Chapter 4: Lose the Towel

By ByeByrBirdie

 **Tuesday, September 23** **rd** **, 7:20 AM  
** **Great Hall**

They both pretended the kiss never happened. Rose continued to yell at Scorpius for cluttering their common room with Quidditch magazines. Scorpius continued to tell Rose she was shite at Potions. Rose turned Scorpius' hands into pumpkins when he told her she'd never catch the snitch before him in their upcoming match. Scorpius turned her hair into snakes after he heard her tell Alice it was the only thing she was afraid of. They fought over patrols schedules. Argued over detention slips. Got into a heated debate in the middle of the Entrance Hall about an upcoming prefect meeting.

But while doing all of that, neither could get that goddamned kiss out of their minds.

It was two days of Rose wondering why she kissed him back. Two days of Scorpius wondering why he enjoyed it. Two days of Rose thinking about his lips on hers. Two days of Scorpius thinking about her body pressed against his. Two days of Rose feeling on edge. Two days of Scorpius feeling weirded out. Two days of no answers.

Which was fine because neither was sure what the questions were supposed to be.

Scorpius was always the first to breakfast, an early riser while his roommates preferred to wait until the last possible second to slip into the Great Hall. As he buttered his scone, he felt his gaze constantly looking up in the direction of noneother than the redhead who had unfortunately consumed his every thought. The kiss they had shared had been incredibly hot and intense, unlike anything he had ever witnessed before. He had his suspicions that he only believed that because he knew it could never happen again. Scorpius wasn't used to snogging a girl and walking away. He felt very unsettled over the fact that the best snog he had ever had was with a girl he couldn't stand. And yet, he found it rather alluring at the same time. But the idea that he found it alluring at all was very disturbing and so he tried not to think about it. Problem was, trying not to think about it only made him think about it more.

His thoughts were only interrupted when his father's owl dipped down in front of him. Frowning, he reluctantly picked it up and opened it.

 _Dear Scorpius,_

 _I bid you good fortune in Saturday's Quidditch match. I trust you will make Malfoys proud._

 _All is well here._

 _Dad_

Scorpius got a letter very infrequently from his father and they were always typically less than twenty words with a condescending air. Anyone else reading it might not see the patronization, but he knew his father well enough to read between the lines.

 _I bid you good fortune in Saturday's match_ meant don't fuck up.

 _I trust you will make Malfoys proud_ meant DON'T FUCK UP.

 _All is well here_ meant it won't be should he fuck up.

Scorpius had long stopped trying to get his father's approval. The only thing his father ever approved of was his surname. He reminded Scorpius all too often that everything he did and said should be with the intention of making Malfoys proud. To him, there was nothing more horrifying than diminishing a reputation.

So to sum up his horrible family in a nutshell, his grandfather was prejudiced, his father was obsessive, his mother left, and Scorpius was convinced he was only ever born so that he could continue to carry on the Malfoy name. If he had been a girl, he had a strong suspicion his parents would have kept trying until they had a boy.

Scorpius ripped the letter up into miniscule pieces and tossed them on to his plate with a grunt. He took a bite of scone, glancing up and freezing when he met the curious gaze of Rose Weasley staring back at him. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that she had just witnessed him angrily shredding the letter and he just prayed she had the decency not to mention it.

Then again, when did Rose Weasley ever have decency?

"What's that?"

Scorpius glanced up as Albus slid into the table opposite him, pointing to the confetti on my plate. "I'll never get the hang of Origami," he lied.

Albus blinked. "I wasn't aware you were trying to get the hang of it."

Scorpius shrugged. "Ran into Hattie Christian on patrols last night. She asked about you, though she told me not to say anything to you."

Albus smirked as he reached for a scone. "Well, you failed on that front."

Scorpius snickered. "I think she got even hotter over the summer. If you don't go for it, I certainly will."

"And I think someone got even more conceited over the summer, if that's even possible."

"Nah, I've always been this conceited, mate," Scorpius said with a grin, clapping his friend on the back.

Albus rolled his eyes but said nothing. He was about the only person in the school who knew that Scorpius' arrogance was a mere front. He merely pretended to be confident with who he was because he had long decided not to give anyone the chance to walk all over him, but Scorpius' soul was damaged beyond repair. After his mother left, he had become quiet and secluded. His father had told him it was for the best but Astoria was the only person in Scorpius' life who had believed in him. It wasn't the Malfoys she believed in. It wasn't their reputation. It wasn't power or prestige. It was Scorpius. And now that she was gone, Albus knew that every day Scorpius woke up, he felt lost and broken.

The two of them never talked about it. But they both knew. And Scorpius would forever be grateful for Albus for two reasons – the fact that Albus knew Scorpius' real thoughts and feelings and the fact that Albus never spoke of it.

"We only have three days left until our match against Gryffindor," Albus said, knowing well enough to change the subject. He had been named Quidditch Captain in their sixth year and everyone at the school knew he was going to be playing professional Quidditch after Hogwarts. "I'm extending our practices by an extra hour all this week."

"You already have us doing three-hour practices," Scorpius whined. "My arse has been on fire all week!"

"I don't particularly want to know what you do with Goyle in your free time."

Albus ducked as a scone came soaring at his head, grinning as he lifted his gaze towards Scorpius' scowl. Now that Scorpius would tell Albus, but the only girl who had struck his fancy for the past two days had unfortunately been Rose Weasley. Leona had tried getting him into a broom cupboard the prior night, but he nipped off to the library instead.

He was certain that was the first time in his life he had turned down sex.

"We're going to crush Gryffindor," Scorpius said, pushing thoughts of Rose out of his mind.

"We better or Rose will never let me live it down," Albus whined.

"The girl practically grabbed the snitch out of my hands last year to win the goddamned Cup," he scoffed. "She still likes to remind me. There is no way in _hell_ I am giving her the chance to lord yet another fucking win over me. _No way in hell_."

Albus grinned, clinking his goblet with his mate's. "Quidditch is about the only time I approve of your childish rivalry with my cousin."

"It's not childish."

Albus smirked. "Whatever you say, Scor."

* * *

 **Tuesday, September 23** **rd** **, 1:00 PM  
** **Head Dorm**

"Are you prone to tearing up all of your letters?"

Scorpius stiffened, glancing over his shoulder as Rose descended her stairwell. "Are you prone to butting your nose in where it doesn't belong?"

She rolled her eyes. "A girl asks a simple question," she muttered to herself as she headed towards the door.

"It's hardly simple," he blurted out in a derisive snort.

She hesitated before turning around. "Then what is it?"

He shot her a look. "I thought we already agreed that it was none of your business."

She sighed. "I don't know why I sometimes bother with you."

"Yes, you've expressed that sentiment in the past. Compared me to a brick wall if I recall. Except the brick wall was apparently more pleasing to look at."

Rose met his amused gaze. "What's your point?"

He hesitated, knowing he shouldn't say what was on his mind, before shrugging. "How many brick walls have you been snogging lately?"

Her fists clenched as she glared at him, her heart beginning to race at a rather rapid pace. "What happened to never mentioning that again?"

"And miss the opportunity to rile you up?" he smirked. "Not a chance."

"You're such a prat," she spat as she turned on her heel and hastened towards the door.

"A prat you've snogged!"

"Not by choice!"

"Says the girl who could have hexed me and instead kissed me back!"

He wasn't surprised when she flipped him off.

* * *

 **Saturday, September 27** **th** **, 11:00 AM  
** **Quidditch pitch**

"Welcome all to the first match of the season!" sixteen-year-old Louis Weasley's voice boomed across the stadium. After he had gotten hit by a bludger to the spine in the prior year and was in St. Mungo's for nearly three full weeks, the Healers told him he was unfit to return to the game so now he just commentated, though Rose knew it killed him not to be out on the actual pitch. "It is the most anticipated match of the year, a long-time rivalry between two Houses that have yet to learn how to bury the hatchet. You'll be cheering. You'll be crying. You'll be crying because you're cheering so hard. And every single one of you will leave this game without a voice."

"-and keep your eyes on the Winters twins," Cody Wood, the Gryffindor Captain, was hissing in the locker room door as his team waited for their entrance. "They're sneaky and underhanded and will send a bludger your way when you least expect it."

"We know, Wood," Roxanne Weasley muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, and have I mentioned that based on last year's performances, it appears that Zabini's weak side is-"

"The right side," thirteen-year-old Frank Longbottom finished. "Yeah, you may have mentioned it."

"Once or twice," Brady Taylor drawled.

"A minute," Rose smirked.

Cody shot them all a look. "Just aim for the right hoop, you tossers!"

The rest of them all laughed at Cody's clear irritation with their need to joke in high-stress time.

"And Rose, just make sure you keep an eye on bloody Malfoy," he muttered. "If I have to hear him brag about another win under his belt like he seems to love doing, I may hang myself from a shower rod."

"Believe me, the feeling is mutual, Wood," she said, her fists already clenching at the mere possibility of losing to him. "But I beat him once last year and I plan to repeat that this year."

"So let's get right down to it and introduce these epic teams!" Louis' voice cried out, earning the stadium to erupt in agreeable cheers. "First, let's welcome the team we all love to hate. The team people prefer not to root for. The sneaky, scheming, underhanded-"

" _Louis,"_ McGonagall sighed.

"Er…I mean, let's welcome the Slytherin team! We've got your seventh-year keeper, Noah Zabini. Here come your two beaters, Lyle…no wait, that's Clyde and then Lyle Winters! Uh…no, I was right the first time. Lyle and then Clyde! Uh, anyway…next out of the gate are your three chasers, the newest member of the team Sasha Rembrandt, Quentin Yaxley, and our last chaser, your Slytherin Captain and noneother than my silent but lethal cousin, Albus Potter! And last and most definitely least, we've got your seeker, Scorpius Malfoy."

Roughly a quarter of the stands cheered and whistled and rooted for the seven Slytherin team, while sixteen-year-old Roxanne and Rose shared an amused look.

"'Silent but lethal?'" Roxanne smirked. "Where the hell does he come up with this stuff?"

"Aaaaand now presenting the best, the most well-rounded, the reigning Champions of the Quidditch Cup, _the Gryffindors_!" Louis shouted. "First, we've got new member to the Quidditch team, noneother than my cute as a button younger cousin, _Hugo Weasley_!"

Rose saw Hugo roll his eyes as he flew up in the air, waving to the crowd while Roxanne and Rose stayed back laughing at Louis' antics.

"And here come Gryffindor's beaters who may not be twins but are also brothers, seventh-year and fourth-year Westin and Brady Taylor!"

Rose clapped Wes on the back as he grinned, leading he and his brother up into the air.

"Welcome to the pitch our three amazing chasers, new member Frank Longbottom, my not-nearly-as-cute-as-a-button cousin, Roxanne Weasley, and our dearest Captain, Cody Wood!"

Roxanne flew out and Cody grinned, winking back at Rose. "Let's do this thing, Weasley," he said before zooming into the air behind the other two.

"And last and this time _certainly_ not least, we have got my final cousin of the match, because damn I have so many of them, the girl that won us the Cup last year and will bring us to victory for another year, the incredibly talented _Roooooose Weasleeeeeeey!"_

Rose grinned as she kicked off from the ground and met up with the rest of her team hovering in the air, listening to the explosion of noise in the stadium as spectators cheered them on.

As the match kicked off, she barely listened to Louis drone on about who had the quaffle. Listening to the commentary only distracted her. This was the time she got into the zone with one eye flitting around the pitch looking for that golden snitch and the other eye following Scorpius' every movement.

"AND ANOTHER GOAL FOR MINI-LONGBOTTOM! We are up 20-0."

Rose grinned proudly, watching the excitement in Frankie's face as he high-fived Roxanne.

Rose was aware that she wasn't the only one keeping an eye on a seeker. She felt Scorpius' eyes on her any time she so much as moved an inch. Which wasn't unusual. The seekers were intended to keep an eye out for each other. But considering what happened between the two of them earlier that week, she felt herself feeling awkward and nervous around him. Which was annoying within itself because feeling nervous in the middle of a Quidditch match was not the best way to start.

Cursing in her head, she let her mind wander back to Louis' commentary in order to get other thoughts out of it.

"HUGO WITH ANOTHER SAVE! That kid is on _fire_!" Louis was shouting, though he was barely audible over the eruption of cheers in the stands. "He may be a new member to the Gryffindor team but he is certainly not new to this game!"

Rose cheered along with the stands for her younger brother.

She continued to fly around the perimeter of the field as the rest of the game continued on. It was clear that Slytherin occupied more time with the quaffle, but with Hugo's keeping skills, they were behind in points.

The game went on for another hour with only one sign of the snitch fluttering beside Cody, but before Scorpius or Rose could even race towards it, the Winters twins had hit a bludger towards Cody and the snitch disappeared.

"A GOAL FOR ROXANNE WEASLEY! Score is 150 for Gryffindor and 70 for Slytherin! KEEP IT UP GRYFFINDOR!"

Rose smirked, not realizing just how far ahead they were. As awesome as their chasers were, she had a feeling it was mainly thanks to Hugo's saves.

"DID YOU SEE THAT SAVE, FOLKS? MVP OF THE GAME TODAY IS DEFINITELY HUGO WEASLEY!"

Rose noticed Albus flying towards Scorpius with a murderous look on his face, but that was expected. Albus Potter didn't like to lose and the fact that Hugo was stopping all of his scoring attempts was likely hitting a rather sore spot with him.

Making her way over to the two of them, she heard the tail end of their conversation.

"-catch that fucking snitch, Malfoy, or I'll never forgive you!"

"Relax, boss," Scorpius smirked, catching Rose's eye as she hovered near them. "There's no way in hell I'm letting Weasley catch that thing before I do."

Albus raced back towards the middle of the pitch where the quaffle was in play once again while Malfoy turned to her with a grin. "Stalking me, Weasley?"

"Hardly," she drawled. "And I certainly hope Albus follows through and murders you once I catch the snitch. The world would be a better place without you in it."

He rolled his eyes, glancing at her with a curious expression. "Ah, but then who would you make out with, Weasel?" he smirked.

She looked shocked for all of a second before she glared at him. With a wink, he took off towards the other end of the field before giving her the chance to punch him.

She could feel her face burning with embarrassment and anger all rolled into one. One of the things she hated most in the world was when Scorpius got under her skin. It happened more often than she liked and every time she felt bothered by his words, she hated him even more.

And ever since he up and planted a kiss on her, it's like she couldn't get that fucking prat out of her damned mind. She was cursing him when he wasn't around. She was glaring at him when he was around. All while their one snog session continued to run through her mind with the simple question of: _why did he do it_?

He claimed it was to prove a point, but she didn't know if she could believe him putting a six-year rivalry on the backburner to snog some girl he had always claimed was ugly. She was just some girl with frizzy hair to him. A girl with a pointy nose and beady eyes. Flat-chested. Someone who wore raggedy clothes and no make up. These were daily insults he sent her way. And yet he went and kissed that so-called ugly girl? Nothing made sense anymore.

"Ah, can't get them all, Hugo! Score is 90 for Slytherin and a whopping 180 for Gryffindor!"

And that's what she saw it. The snitch twirling around the hoops that Hugo was currently defending. And she had half a field's length on Scorpius.

 _That snitch is mine_ , were the only words running through Rose's mind.

She changed directions immediately as she raced off towards the hoops, well aware that Scorpius was now heading her way as fast as humanly possible. But it didn't matter. She was not about to let Scorpius Malfoy take this away from her. She grabbed the snitch from under his nose last year and she planned on doing it again.

She could hear his broom whizzing behind her and she knew he was gaining on her. She supposed that was what she got for using a five-year old broom while Scorpius' father bought him the newest model every year.

The two of them could see the crowd on their feet, all cheering loudly – some yelling out Scorpius' name and some yelling out Rose's. Rose could hear Cody Wood yelling at her to make him proud. Scorpius could hear Albus encouraging him to outfly Rose.

But none of that mattered. It was just the two of them, their brooms, and that snitch.

"You ain't getting this one, Weaslet!" Scorpius cried out from behind Rose.

She tried ignoring him as she rushed past Wes, who sent a bludger behind her.

Scorpius swerved to miss it. "And how about once I catch this snitch, you owe me another snog."

" _In your dreams, Malfoy_!" she snapped, chasing after the snitch that was now flying higher into the air.

"Ah, but Weasley, did you just _admit_ to dreaming about us sharing that beautiful snog session?"

She clenched her one fist tightly around her broom, fuming at his attempts at taunts. " _Have you gone mad, Malfoy_?"

"Ah, but I think it's you that has gone mad," he cried out, hastily coming up beside her as they both reached for the snitch. He leaned in towards her with a smirk. "Because I think we _both_ know that you haven't been able to get that goddamned kiss out of your mind all week."

Her heart fluttered irritably as she turned to glare at him.

And that one glare is all it took. That one tiny distraction. A single second in which she let her eye off the snitch. _One single second_.

But that one single second was the reason that Scorpius' hand enveloped the snitch and hers didn't.

He held it up victoriously and the Slytherin crowd went wild.

Before Rose could even let him taunt her, she rushed off in the opposite direction, her face now bright red.

She couldn't be sure if it was out of sheer embarrassment or rage, but either way, she landed both feet on the ground and took off towards the locker room, ignoring every single person she passed that claimed she played a good game.

She didn't play a good game. Her game was to catch the snitch and she didn't because she let Scorpius Malfoy get inside her head.

Now seemed like the right time to hang herself from the shower rod.

RWRWRWRWRW

 **Saturday, September 27** **th** **, 1:20 PM**

 **Quidditch locker rooms**

The entire team was depressed and Rose knew that it was because of her. They all stood around the room in their sweaty clothes, permanent frowns etched into their faces.

"Well, the loss aside," Cody muttered with a sigh, "We did actually play an excellent match. Louis was right, Hugo. You really were the MVP. You killed it. You let in half as many goals as we scored on them and that's a huge accomplishment. And the good news is, none of us came out injured, though it wasn't for lack of trying on the Winters brothers' part. So, uh…yeah. Good game."

"We still lost," Roxanne muttered.

Oh, how Rose wanted to throttle her with her broom.

Except she couldn't. Because she was right. They did lose. And it was all her fault.

"I mean, what the hell happened, Rose?" Wes Taylor sighed. "You were _there_. I thought you had it."

Right, like she was about to tell him that Scorpius Malfoy got into her fucking head.

"He outplayed me. Was bound to happen sometime," she muttered, tossing her Quidditch robes into her locker with a grunt as she stormed off towards the showers.

She drowned herself in the shower over the next hour. The rest of the team had come and gone and the water had long turned from hot to lukewarm before she finally slid out of the showers, the frustration emanating from her every step.

Why, oh _why,_ did she have to go and let Scorpius Malfoy get to her?

It was a question she was certain she'd probably never really get over, nor would she even be close to finding an answer to. All she knew was that she _really_ hated the guy.

"That towel doesn't leave much to the imagination, does it."

She screamed, whirling around at the voice of her mortal enemy. Narrowing her eyes in dangerous slits, she glared at him. "What the _fuck_ do you think you're doing in here?"

He smirked, shrugging coyly. Truth was, he couldn't be sure what he was doing there. He and the rest of the team celebrated their win in the locker room with a round of cheering and hollers with Albus letting them all know a party was going to be in full-force in the Slytherin common room. So Scorpius should have been the first one out the door, never one to turn down a night of people patting him on the back. And yet instead, he found himself migrating towards the Gryffindor locker room where he knew he would find Rose feeling sorry for herself.

"Wanted to make sure you hadn't drowned in the shower," he said. "It's a hell of a lot more fun throwing my win in your face if you're actually alive."

"Fuck off, Malfoy. Do me a favor and _leave_ ," she growled, gripping the towel tightly around her body. She suddenly felt very exposed and the heat rose to her cheeks at the mere awkwardness of the situation.

"When have I ever been keen on doing you favors?" he spoke dully.

She couldn't help herself at that point. She picked up her shoe off the bench in front of her and chucked it across the room at him. "GET OUT!"

He ducked just in time, the shoe narrowly missing his head. He said nothing at first, his forehead creasing curiously as he met her gaze. She said nothing as well, knowing perfectly well that if she opened her mouth, only a string of profanities would be spilling out and she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much he was angering her at that moment.

 _I had that fucking snitch!_ She kept thinking. She was there before Scorpius and it should have been hers! But he had to go and remind her of their goddamned kiss so that her head was out of the game for a mere _second_. A SINGLE SECOND. But that second was enough time for him to swoop in and grab the snitch from underneath her. So not only did Scorpius Malfoy beat her on the pitch, but now he knew exactly what he could say to get under her skin.

 _Oh how she hated him!_

"You were thinking about our kiss during the game, weren't you."

His voice broke her out of her thoughts, her eyes narrowing at him. "Excuse me?"

"We both know that you kept your gaze on me for most of the game, and-"

"Because you're the opposing team's _seeker_ ," she snapped, glaring at him.

"-and the moment I went and mentioned that kiss, you took your eyes off the snitch to glare at me. You got distracted, Weasley, plain and simple. And you got distracted because I kissed you."

"Stop reminding me," she snarled. "I'd prefer not to hurl all over the floor."

He chuckled, leaning up against the doorway with crossed arms. The sleeves on his sweater were pushed halfway up his arms and his right trainer was untied. His hair was slicked back after a recent shower and he wore his trademark smirk on the edge of his lips. "Something tells me you're not as repulsed by the fact that we snogged as you claim to be."

"Do you want my other shoe thrown at you?" she snapped.

His smirk only grew and he pulled himself away from the doorway, walking towards her with a rather impish gleam in his eyes. He couldn't help but realize that Rose Weasley looked damned good in a towel (because really, what girl didn't?), though he tried to ignore that fact as he grew closer to her.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, holding her hands so firmly on the edge of her towel that her knuckles were turning white.

"Getting a better view," he teased, running his eyes down the length of her body.

"Oh, _gross_ ," she sneered, shuddering in response.

He simply smirked. A smirk he knew Rose hated. "You are actually quite fit for the obnoxious prig you are."

"Stop checking me out, Malfoy!" she snapped, tightening her grip on the towel.

He slowly shook his head as he continued to walk towards her. He'd like to pretend he wasn't checking her out but her towel left nothing to the imagination. He could see every curve of her body beneath the thin layer of white fabric. And for some inexplicable reason, their kiss flashed through his mind.

"Y'know, Weasel, instead of just being forced to remember that kiss," he whispered as he drew closer to her, "We could just have a rematch."

She could only stare at him before sputtering, "Are you _mad_?"

"Probably," he smirked. "But I can't exactly say no to a girl wearing a towel." The hope in his expression was unmistakable as he came around the bench and stood directly in front of her.

Her heart churned with an undetectable emotion. A rather large part of her was confused as to what Scorpius was doing as this was typically the part where he'd make some insulting comment about her ugly body, throw his win in her face, and leave her standing there, fuming even more than she was before he showed up. Instead, he was telling her she was fit and looking at her like he'd have no problem ravishing her right then and there. It was unnerving.

What was more unnerving was that she wasn't completely against that idea.

"What are you playing at, Malfoy?" she sighed, not in the mood to be a target of his womanizing games.

His lip curled upward in amusement, his lustful eyes traveling up her body to hold her skeptical gaze. "You think I'm playing games?" he smirked.

She rolled her eyes. "I know you're playing games."

He said nothing at first, his eyes unable to stray from hers. Rose prayed that her eyes were holding steady with irritation, but considering the nervous flutter in her heart, she had a feeling her eyes were betraying her.

As he looked at her, he knew she wasn't nearly as annoyed as she was pretending to be. Which only intrigued him more.

"I can see why you'd think that considering games are my forte," he spoke. "This Quidditch match certainly proved that."

Just when she was starting not to completely hate him, he had to go and be a complete douchebag. She reached her hand out and pressed it against his chest, keeping him at an arm's length. "If you come any further, I'll have no problem screaming bloody murder for all to hear."

His head tilted back as he let out a light laugh. "Oh, Weasley," he smirked, grabbing her arm to pull her hand away from his chest, letting his own hand linger there. He leaned over until his lips were grazing her ear and whispered, "When I'm through with you, the only thing you'll be screaming is my name."

"What the hell-"

Rose didn't get to finish the sentence as he pressed his lips to hers with a ferocity unseen by either one of them. She should have pushed him away. She should have slapped him. She should have hexed him or kicked him or done something to cause him physical pain.

Instead, she kissed him back.

She still despised Malfoy with every fiber of her being, but that in no way deterred from the fact that Malfoy was one of the best-looking blokes in the school and rather sought-out and here he was choosing to snog her instead of any of the other bimbos he could have easily had. She knew it wasn't because he particularly liked her in any way (because he didn't). She knew she posed a bit of a challenge to him considering he could easily get any other girl he wanted and she was the only one who ever turned him away. She knew there was nothing between them but the thrill of an unexpected chase. But if he could have his fun, she was more than happy to play along. After all, he wasn't the only horny teenager in the school.

His lips were rough against hers, desperate with desire. His hands dropped to her waist and he pulled her towards him, his body pressing up against hers as their lips tangled together in a heated race for dominance. There was an unexpected desire pooling within their every move that she was unable to fight against. She could sense the same inner struggle for control waging within him as they snogged like they've never snogged before.

He pushed her up against the locker and she had to grip the top of the towel tighter or fear losing it, which in any other situation might be the end goal but as this was Scorpius Malfoy she was currently snogging, she refused to remove any sort of clothing. This was going to strictly be a snog session, absolutely nothing more in her mind. Just because he was used to getting what he wanted with other girls didn't mean he was going to get it with her.

He placed his hands against the locker on opposite sides of her face so that she was trapped in front of him, but instead of fight against it, she merely teased her tongue against his bottom lip before plunging it unexpectedly into his mouth. He let out a breathless gasp before letting his tongue dance hungrily against hers. There was no doubt in Scorpius' mind that Rose Weasley was a phenomenal kisser. She was doing things with her tongue that was causing an overwhelming flutter of heat bubbling around in his stomach. He couldn't get enough. He had snogged plenty of girls in his life but there was something about snogging his mortal enemy that caused desire to spark from every inch of his body. The kisses were fervent and desperate, her tongue swirling against his in an overwhelmingly seductive way.

Considering Rose was at a disadvantage seeing as one of her hands was rooted to the top of her towel, she had to find other ways of captivating him. As one of her arms wrapped around his shoulders and drew him close to her, their lips still very much attached, she slowly swung one of her legs around his waist and pressed her pelvis up against his. Not so surprisingly, she could feel a rather hard erection buried underneath his jeans and felt herself smirking at the idea that even a part of Scorpius was apparently attracted to her.

Pulling away from her only briefly, he instinctively pulled his T-shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor. She tried not to stare but it was virtually impossible, his abs practically slapping her in the face. Years of Quidditch had clearly done his body good and Rose was suddenly very aware that she was actually aroused by his half-naked enemy. No wonder all of the girls went for Scorpius. They had very good reason to and it had nothing to do with his personality.

"Like what you see, Weasley?" he smirked, clearly watching her as her eyes ran down his torso.

"How about you don't talk?" she snorted. Before he could retort, she shut him up with another kiss and his hands were suddenly removed from the locker behind her and making their way into her damp hair. He tugged at it slightly at the same time he bit down on her top lip, eliciting a rather embarrassing moan from Rose. She felt a sudden rush of courage boiling inside of her and she pushed him back, their lips still entangled, until his knees buckled and he was forced to drop down on to the bench behind him. Still holding the towel tightly against her, Rose straddled him on the bench, her feet still firmly planted on the ground. He led a trail of kisses down her neck and nipped at her shoulderblade, smirking when he heard her panting heavily.

To say that Scorpius was turned on would have been an understatement. Fire was burning in his every vein as she pressed her entire body against his, arching her back as he sucked desperately on her neck. He had not planned on entering the locker room with the intention of hooking up with her in any way and now he couldn't imagine not seeing the look on her face when he buried himself deep inside of her.

His hands dropped down to her waist once again as his lips broke from her skin, dipping his head close to her ear. "Lose the towel, Weasley," he whispered breathlessly, kissing the skin directly underneath her ear and sending a shiver down her spine at the sensual touch.

And that touch alone, so sexy and stimulating, made her actually consider his words. She actually considered them! The tingly feeling in her stomach was saying yes, but her head was screaming no. It took everything within her to shake her head. "No," she argued, taking a hesitant step back to finally look into his eyes.

Shock was staring back at her. "What?" he asked, his brow furrowing.

Coyly, she shook her head. "I said no," she urged firmly, her heart doing a rather distressing flip. "You may be able to snap your fingers at other girls and expect them to willingly drop their clothes for you, but I'm sorry to say I am _not_ like every other slag in this school."

He blinked in utter surprise, staring at her like he couldn't believe he just got flat-our rejected. His lips formed a thin line, one of shock and annoyance, as his eyes narrowed curiously. He wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or frustrated or angry. Because who the hell could snog like that and not want it to go any further? Everything inside of Scorpius was burning with an unexpected yearning for her. And while he knew she probably felt it, too, she decided to push him away instead of act on it.

Now who was playing games?

When it was clear she wasn't backing down, he shook his head slightly and shrugged, removing his hands from her hips and leaning back on the bench with a scoff. "Says the girl snogging me in nothing but a towel," he spoke once he regained his composure.

"I'd be wearing clothes had you not interrupted me when I was trying to change," she shot back, running her fingers through her tangled hair in an attempt to unknot it.

"This view was better," he smirked, and his shock was suddenly gone and replaced with amusement. As if he hadn't totally just been blown off, something he certainly wasn't accustomed to.

Rose rolled her eyes and stepped away from him, opening her locker and searching for her sweater. "So," she murmured, refusing to look at him, "You going to tell me what the hell that was?"

She could practically hear the smirk as he spoke up behind her. "A shit ton of fun is what it was."

Unfortunately, she couldn't disagree. Turning back around to face him, she leaned up against the lockers with a sigh. "I still find you utterly insufferable."

"And you're a detestable bitch. What's your point?"

She scowled. " _Malfoy_ ," she snapped. "Stop dicking around and give me a straight answer."

He rolled his eyes. "Fucking hell, Weasley, haven't you ever just wanted to do something that you know you shouldn't and yet that very concept is the one reason you can't help yourself? Live a little, won't you? Merlin knows we could have some fun with this."

She pondered his words carefully. "You're saying you want this to be a recurring thing?"

He swept the hair from his face as he shrugged. It occurred to him that he was suddenly nervous, a trait he rarely exhibited. But he didn't know where Rose's head was at and he found himself rather uneasy because of it. He never had trouble reading a girl's intentions before. Most girls were blatant and obvious with their desires for him, but Rose wasn't just any other girl. And he hated not being able to read her.

He squirmed hesitantly in the bench, biting down on his bottom lip before letting out a curt shrug. "I can't stand you, Weasley," he eventually said. "You think you're better than everyone because of a bloody surname. And you feel as if you need to live up to some pathetic expectations that your parents' successes have brought upon you, which is fairly impossible considering their so-called accomplishments, so instead of admitting you'll never be as good as them, you simply overcompensate by being a bitch to anyone you consider inferior to you. And don't get me started on the fact that the moment something doesn't go your way is the moment you pout and whine about it to anyone who will listen because you think it's okay to act like a spoiled child. Now, before you stop me and basically say 'hi, pot, meet kettle,' let me tell you that I'm already plenty aware that I have the same tendencies that you do except for one major difference: I actually own up to being an arrogant prat. And until you do the same, you'll always just be some whiny bitch to me."

She was seething by the end of his rant, uncertain where any of it came from but pissed off nonetheless. She barely had time to wrap her head around his words, however, before he was continuing.

"However, the best part of us hating each other's guts is that snogging you means you won't become like every other giggly schoolgirl who suddenly thinks that by one snog I want to marry them and have their slag babies. You will never want anything more from me and Merlin knows I won't want anything more from you. So we get to reap all the physical benefits without having to deal with the emotional consequences. And you were the one who was ready to resign because you couldn't deal with me. You were the one who said we needed to figure out how to work together. So maybe this is our answer. Less fighting, more snogging. Seems like a pretty wicked arrangement to me," he finished, finally pulling himself off the bench with a mere shrug, and Rose thought he probably did it in case he needed to make a quick exit. "So, are you all caught up or are you still secretly plotting my death because of the insults I just shot at you?"

For the first time in her life, she had absolutely no words. None. Her mouth was hanging open in complete and utter disbelief, her mind reeling with a combination of confusion and anger and mistrust and especially disgust in regards to what was going on in front of her.

She could tell he was incredibly amused by her silence and she was not one who enjoyed being mocked, so she did the only thing she could think off to catch him off guard as much as he just caught her off guard.

She kissed him again.

Scorpius stumbled backward slightly, dropping back on to the bench once again as she brutally captured his lips with hers. He wasted no time gripping her waist, tugging her towards him forcefully. Instead of standing there and towering over him, she found herself dropping on to his lap as their lips fought against one another and their tongues battled it out.

His hand slid up the side of the towel before cupping her right breast atop the towel. She let out a breathless moan as his lips parted from hers and began trailing down the side of her face to her neck. For the second time that afternoon, she arched her back as his lips nipped at the nape of her neck, his hand squeezing her breast tightly.

She would never admit this to anyone but she had never been more turned on than she was in that moment.

Rose Weasley had only ever had one long-term boyfriend and that had been a guy by the name of Cameron Zee. He was a Ravenclaw in the same year and the two of them had started to date in November in their prior year. She fell head over heels in love with him so quickly that it was unexpected. And he loved her back. For nearly seven months, they were perfect. They finished each other's sentences, they spent hours snogging in broom cupboards, and she could hold a conversation with him like no one else. She shared her dreams with him and he told her he was scared to leave Hogwarts. He cheered her on in Quidditch and she was there to help him study for classes. Everything was perfect. Until it wasn't.

She was still a virgin and she hadn't been ready to sleep with him. Cameron said he understood. He never pressured her, which made her love him even more.

Turns out, he wasn't pressuring her because he was sleeping with Amanda Gray on the side.

She had been on patrols with noneother than Scorpius Malfoy when she caught Cameron and Amanda having sex in the North Tower.

She quickly removed Cameron from her mind as she reverted back to the present, Scorpius' lips on her neck causing a tingling sensation in the pit of her stomach. A simple kiss was hurling all sorts of naughty ideas and desires through her every vein. He certainly knew what he was doing, his lips like heaven on earth against her skin. She could feel herself growing very wet at the true intimacy of the situation, which told her that she had to stop very soon or the logical side of her brain was going to be quickly overpowered by the aroused side of her brain.

She pressed her lips hungrily to his one last time before slowly climbing off of him, much to his clear protest.

He let out a frustrated groan. "I wouldn't have pegged you for a bloody tease, Weasley."

She smirked, taking it as a compliment. "I wouldn't have pegged you as someone who wanted to snog me, but look how that turned out," she smirked. "Now get the hell out so I can get changed."

He didn't say anything or even move, his eyes capturing hers with a sort of lust-filled gratitude. "Fine," he muttered reluctantly. "How about you meet me tonight behind the fifth floor tapestry? I suppose you can wear clothes, although I wouldn't be opposed to you coming in a towel— _ow_."

She tossed her other shoe at his head with a grin. "I can't tonight."

"Oh, got some hot date?"

She rolled her eyes. "Win or lose, the Gryffindors always throw an after-Quidditch party in the common room."

"Oh, good, even better. Get drunk and then come meet me."

"Ah, right, because taking advantage of drunken girls is your specialty, hm?"

He smirked, pulling himself off the bench and taking a step towards her. "Guess you'll have to show up tonight to find out if that's true," he whispered before pressing his lips hard against hers.

She placed her free hand against the nape of his neck and drew him into her, their tongues swirling together with uncompromising fervor. She could feel her stomach flutter at the intensity of the kiss, his tongue tracing her bottom lip seductively as she felt a yearning shiver run down her spine.

She pulled away, desperate to catch her breath as she met the clear lust in his eyes. "I'm still not taking off the towel," she smirked.

He scrunched his nose but simply shrugged instead of arguing. "Ah, well, all in due time, Weaslet," he chuckled. He winked at her before turning around to head out. Except instead of heading towards the exit, he headed towards the bathroom in the back instead.

Frowning, she said, "Where the hell are you going?"

He chuckled rather proudly, sneaking a peek in her direction wearing his usual smirk. "I am in desperate need of a cold shower."

All she could do was laugh.


	6. Psych Evaluation

**A Different Kind of Love Story**

Chapter 5: Psych Evaluation

By ByeByeBirdie

* * *

 **Saturday, September 27** **th** **, 9:45 PM  
Gryffindor common room**

Rose was drowning the unfortunate Quidditch loss in a bottle of firewhisky she was currently sharing with Alice. Being the good friend she was, Alice was trying to talk about anything other than Quidditch to get Rose's mind off of it. She even started discussing classwork when she ran out of other topics.

"I don't think hitting on Professor Jenkins will make him change your grade," Rose giggled. "Albus is actually convinced he's gay."

"Aw, damn. Just my luck," she sighed, grabbing the bottle from Rose's hand and taking a swig. "No wonder Albus is doing so well in Defense."

"Oh, you think Jenkins has a crush on him?" Rose laughed.

"It's possible!"

Rose could only laugh as she watched a teasing grin spread across her friend's face.

"Rosie, I have a bone to pick with you!"

Rose scowled as a slightly intoxicated Louis fell on to the couch between her and Alice. "Don't call me that."

"There's a rumor going around that you let Malfoy win."

Anger blazed in Rose's heart. " _Are you bloody kidding me_?" she snapped.

He cowered to her scowls, a sheepish look on his face. "Hey, don't kill the messenger. I'm just telling you what I've heard."

"Who the hell told you that!?" Rose snarled.

He shrugged. "It's going around."

Rose grabbed the bottle out of Alice's hands and chugged a large portion of it. " _Why_ would I let him win!?"

Louis shrugged, trying to grab the bottle from Rose and failing as she held it out of his way. He pouted as he said, "I think people were hoping you'd answer that."

"Here's an answer for you: no way in fucking _hell_ would I ever willingly lose to that sleazy bastard!"

A bastard she was strongly considering meeting behind the fifth floor tapestry.

What the hell was wrong with her?

"Ah, well, take it as a compliment," Louis said, pulling himself off the couch. "Maybe they think there's no way he could have beat you fair and square."

He smirked before heading on to the dance floor where Raleigh Duncan was gesturing towards him.

"I don't know if that's supposed to make me feel better considering he did unfortunately beat me fair and square," Rose muttered under her breath.

Alice grimaced. "You'll get him next time."

 _Yeah, that, or I'll just snog his brains out_.

What the hell was wrong with her?

She couldn't get his words out of her head. She couldn't get his kisses out of her head. She couldn't get any part of him out of her head. Could their ability to work together in a competent way be solved by taking the arguing out of their volatile relationship and replace it with snogging? Was that actually possible?

And how could she be even considering it when this was her mortal enemy she was thinking about. The guy who strove to make her life miserable. The guy who insulted her for six years straight and hexed her when he didn't get his way. This was a guy she hated in every sense of the word for being the cocky, overconfident, repulsive, stubborn womanizer that he was. She hated him for never seeming to care about anything but himself. She hated him for challenging her intelligence. She hated him for beating her on the Quidditch pitch. _She hated him_.

And yet all she wanted to do was meet him by the fifth floor tapestry.

 _What the hell was wrong with her!?_

Glancing over towards Alice, Rose let out a hefty sigh and said, "How do you do it, Ace?"

Her eyebrow shot up. "Do what?"

Rose bit down on her bottom lip curiously. "Snog random guys that you don't even particularly like."

That was clearly not the question she was expecting as she jerked her head towards her friend in total shock. "Uh…well, first of all, I like them just fine. And second of all, _why_ are you asking?"

"You told me Shawn Benson was the rudest git you've ever met two hours before snogging him," Rose reminded her, ignoring the second question.

She grinned sheepishly. "Oh, yeah, well, I was drunk and he told me I was hot, so it seemed like the right thing to do at the time."

Rose smirked, tipping the bottle back and letting the liquid burn her throat. "You've never had a boyfriend," she contemplated.

Alice shrugged, a hesitant frown spreading across her face. "I've never wanted one."

"Why?"

She said nothing as she pulled the bottle out of Rose's hand, fingering the label hesitantly. She stared out into the crowd of people, of which a makeshift dancefloor had been created while a bunch of fifth and sixth years swung their hips to the WWN. "My father is our bloody professor, Roe."

Rose blinked. "So?"

"So no one wants to date the professor's kid," she muttered. "No one wants their every move to be monitored by their girlfriend's father who happens to be just a few feet away. No guy wants to deal with all that trouble."

Rose' brow knitted as she contemplated those words. So maybe it wasn't Alice who didn't want the boyfriend. Maybe it was that no one was willing to call her their girlfriend.

"Why are you asking me about this, Roe?"

Rose frowned hesitantly before shrugging, thoughts of her ex-boyfriend unfortunately creeping into her mind. "After the whole Cameron thing," she muttered, "I can't help but wonder if dating is even worth it."

Alice met her friend's gaze with frown. "As if not being in an actual relationship means no chance at getting hurt?"

Rose could only nod in agreement.

"Maybe you have to go through the heartbreak to know just what you're looking for."

Rose's heart skipped a curious beat. Maybe a few casual snog sessions with Scorpius Malfoy _was_ what she was looking for.

Scorpius couldn't break Rose's heart because her heart wouldn't be involved. She wouldn't cry over him because there'd be nothing to cry over. He wouldn't hurt her because she'd be going into this with no feelings. So why shouldn't she have a little bit of fun? Isn't that what Scorpius was always telling her to do? Lighten up? Live a little? Maybe she had unknowingly stumbled across the answer.

So an hour later once Alice was off dancing with Cody, Rose used that opportunity to sneak out of the common room.

She knew that she was probably crazy for doing this. She should have probably gone to Pomfrey to get her head examined. Because who in their right mind would decide to up and snog some lowlife who wasn't even remotely worth their time?

Apparently her because she was rounding the corner on the fifth floor to hopefully partake in a heated snog session with the one guy who made her blood boil.

He was leaning up against the wall as she made her way towards him. Surprise, surprise, his usual smirk filled his expression as he caught sight of her.

She really hated that stupid smirk.

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't come," he said coyly, running his fingers through the side of his hair. He had even considered blowing it off, knowing that there was a rather strong chance he'd wind up disappointed. And yet he couldn't help but make the trek towards that tapestry with the pleading hope that she, too, felt the heat between them and couldn't just let that go.

She said nothing as she walked towards him with a cautious frown, not taking her eyes off of his. "I'm not really sure what I'm doing here," she admitted as she met up with him by the tapestry.

He chuckled, shrugging as if he knew she was going to say that. "My guess is you've had a few drinks in you."

"Yes, that certainly is a factor," she smirked.

He rolled his eyes. "I've given you my pitch, Weasley. And you're standing here now. So I have a feeling you're into it. Stop overthinking everything."

"You being obnoxious right now isn't going to help your case."

"Being obnoxious is all I'm good at."

"Good-bye," she said with a smirk, turning on her heel and walking away.

"Hold on there," Scorpius groaned, reaching out and grabbing her arm. "See, this is the precise reason why we should snog when in each other's presence. Because when we're not, we're bickering. And isn't that what we're supposed to be avoiding?"

Glancing towards him, she couldn't help but think that that argument was a rather good one. "You think this is the answer to all of our problems?"

"I'm not going to bother mentioning that the only one with problems here is you and simply say, yes."

Her eyes narrowed at him before shrugging. "If comments like that can be avoided then I guess count me in."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise before a slow smirk spread across his face. "Good answer," he spoke, pulling himself away from the wall as he dipped his head down to kiss her.

She stopped him, holding her hand up against his chest with determination in her eyes. "On one condition."

He rolled his eyes. "Of course you have stipulations. What is it?"

She frowned hesitantly, her heart skipping a beat before blurting out, "No sex."

He blinked, his brow furrowing. "What?"

She bit down on her lip awkwardly. "I meant what I said in the locker room," she spoke firmly. "You may be able to get other girls to give you exactly what you want, but I'm not like every girl. I don't plan on sleeping with someone I don't even remotely like. Snogging is one thing, sex is a completely other thing. So feel free to sleep with whomever you want but it ain't going to be with me."

He looked rather surprised by her unexpected announcement, but she didn't rightly care what he thought. He didn't have to know that she was a virgin and she wasn't about to tell him, but she also was not about to lose her virginity to the resident asshole.

He could only stare at her curiously, wondering why she decided to make that a rule. He wasn't going to lie and say he hadn't already had fantasies of sleeping with her and considering how hot and heavy it had been in the Quidditch locker room, he'd like to think she had the same fantasies about him. And yet she was pretending otherwise. But he had the thought that it might go back to what had happened between her and Cameron Zee last June. Scorpius assumed that Rose had slept with the guy at some point in their seven-month relationship and then after catching him with another girl, she made it a point not to be so willingly careless in the future. And this was her attempt at proving to him she had the upperhand.

He thought it was hilarious that she had even a mere thought that she could control him, but he supposed he could let it go for now.

Rose expected him to just turn around and walk away so imagine her surprise when he simply shrugged and said, "There are plenty of other things we can do. And talking isn't one of them."

"You've read my mind, Malfoy," she smirked as she grabbed a fistful of his sweater and drew him into her, pressing hers lips hungrily to his.

His lips moved against hers intensely as he slammed her petite body up against the wall. He placed one hand on the wall beside her face and dropped the other to her waist, pressing his body up against hers as their lips continued to fight against one another's.

He pulled back only slightly, his curious eyes meeting her timid ones. "We should probably get out of the hallway," he smirked, reaching for her hand rather unexpectedly and dragging her towards the door that perched behind the tapestry. Opening the door, his lips captured hers again as they fell through the door into a small alcove. He shut the door without their lips parting, his hands making a raid through the back of her hair. He tugged at it slightly as their tongues battled each other's, a powerful tension filling the small room.

Rose felt unexpected lust fester from deep within her stomach, feeling a desperate need to just block out the rest of the world and snog the guy standing in front of her. She let go of all thoughts of Cameron. She let go of her Quidditch loss. She let go of schoolwork and N.E.W.T.s. She let go of head duties. She let go of the fact that she was supposed to hate the guy in front of her. She let go of all of it and just lived in that one moment where nothing else mattered but a heavy snog session with a guy who did wonders with his tongue.

His lips parted from hers as they made their way down her jawline and nipped at her neck. She was not proud of the slight moan that fell from her lips as she fell back against one of the desks, Scorpius' body pressing up against hers. Rose tilted her head back as Scorpius' lips explored her neck, her hands wrapping around him and drawing him close to her as humanly possible. She didn't just want his touch, she needed it. She needed to feel something other than the hopeless defeat constantly thrashing around in her heart.

Rose's instincts took over as she ignored the thoughts running though her head, reaching for the edge of his T-shirt and pulling it desperately over his head. He met her gaze, a curious smile tugging at his lips as Rose tossed his shirt to the floor and captured his lips with hers once again. She felt her heart beating wildly out of her chest as his own fingers grazed the bottom of her sweater. Tense nerves fluttered around in her stomach, wondering how it was even remotely possible that she was okay with letting Scorpius Malfoy remove her shirt. But apparently she didn't mind because he lifted the sweater over her head and discarded it, his gaze now taking in her half-naked torso.

"I thought you looked good in a towel," he mused, the first words spoken since they entered the room, "But I think I might like this view more."

Rose felt herself laugh, shoving him against the chest playfully. "You're such a cocky bastard."

"A cocky bastard you are currently snogging," he smirked, nipping coyly at her neck.

"I'm thinking of admitting myself to St. Mungo's for a psych evaluation after this," she teased, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and drawing her lips into his.

"Ah, well then I should probably get my snogging in now because that could take a while," he smirked as their lips danced across one another's.

Rose could only laugh as he quickly shut her up with another kiss. He straddled her and she leaned back, his body crashing against hers as her heart fluttered with yearning. His hand slowly descended from her hair towards her shoulder and then trailed down her collarbone until it rested against her left breast. Rose felt her breath hitch but ignored it as she tugged at his bottom lip, pretending as if Scorpius' hand against her breast wasn't completely turning her on.

There was something so freeing to Rose about fooling around with someone who clearly knew what they were doing without having any sort of attraction to him. She felt slightly rebellious, letting his hands wander up and down her body and exploring his mouth with hers in total privacy, with the knowledge that she'd be back to snapping at him the next day in public. They weren't friends. They weren't even acquaintances. They were mortal enemies from the very moment they set eyes on each other and that would never change. They could snog, but they'd still bicker. They could sneak around, but they'd still challenge each other. They could take each other's clothes off, but they'd still insult one another. Sometimes life worked in mysterious ways and this just so happened to be one of those times.

When they were gathering their missing shirts later, after she had stopped it from going any further, she could feel his eyes on hers. Rose stole a look his way where he sat perched against the edge of the desk, his arms folded across his body.

"Y'know," he murmured when he caught Rose looking at him, shaking his hair out of his face, "I never actually thought you'd agree to this."

She pulled her sweater over her head as she glanced at him curiously. "Why not?"

He shrugged, leaning back against the palms of his hand, his gaze not faltering from hers. "Because you don't exactly like me."

She snorted. "It's not that I don't _exactly_ like you. I definitely don't like you."

"Glad we cleared that up."

She chuckled, glancing over at him as she pondered his question carefully. She didn't know what possessed her to tell him her thought process, but she found herself saying, "The one time I actually snogged a guy I liked, he fucked me over. I thought it was time to switch it up."

Scorpius frowned, recalling the time that he and Rose were on patrols and caught her then-boyfriend shagging Amanda Gray. He had despised Rose at the time obviously but even he couldn't wish on her the kind of humiliation he witnessed that night. It was the first time in five years he had actually felt sympathy for her. He hadn't had time to express it at the time because she had run off without saying anything, leaving Scorpius behind to punch the douchebag.

Neither he nor Rose had spoken of that night to each other ever again.

He could have brought up Cameron, but thought better of it. "So…what? Still nursing a broken heart?"

She cringed at how utterly pathetic that sounded even if it was a slight version of the truth. "Something like that," she muttered with a shrug. She threw her hair up into a messy ponytail before heading towards the door, hoping to signal the end of the conversation.

He followed her out, both of them spilling out from behind the tapestry. He watched the light in her eyes start to slowly fade and couldn't help but add, "If it helps any, I don't plan on breaking your heart, Weaslet."

The words were unexpectedly "Of course not," she snorted, shooting him a skeptical look. "Because my heart isn't involved in this in any way."

He chuckled, shaking his head curiously. "Quite true, Weasel," he said. "I have to say, you are not anything like I thought you were."

She blinked. "What did you think I was?"

"A nosy, uptight, prude, neurotic stick in the mud."

She glared at him, the insult rolling off the tongue like he had had it stored for years. "And what does that make me now?"

He hesitated. "A nosy, uptight, prude, neurotic stick in the mud who is one hell of a kisser."

She punched him in the shoulder, of which he stumbled backwards with a laugh. "I'm kidding!"

Rose shot him a look.

"Well, no, I'm not, but you're a lot more fun than I ever anticipated you to be."

She rolled her eyes at him. "You really are a cocky bastard, y'know that?"

He leaned over, dipping his head down to whisper in her ear, "A cocky bastard who is one hell of a kisser, I imagine."

She shrugged. "You're alright," she teased, knowing full well this would set him off.

He grabbed her arm before she could walk off and crashed his lips against hers, his tongue instinctively tracing the upper part of Rose's lip. His lips were hard and firm, the kiss filled with unrelenting intensity as their mouths exploded with violent heat.

Eventually pulling away, he smirked and let her arm go. "That should hold you over until next time," he said with a coy grin before winking at Rose and walking away.

Rose watched him go, her lips still tingling from that final kiss.

Not that she would ever admit it aloud to Malfoy (or to anyone for that matter), but he really was one hell of a kisser.

* * *

 **Tuesday, October 6** **th** **, 11:05 PM  
** **Head Dorm**

Scorpius couldn't help but think that Rose was right to consider a psych evaluation. Scorpius was considering one, too. Because as much as he would never admit it aloud to anyone, he really enjoyed snogging Rose Weasley.

The first time he had kissed her, it had been to prove a point. But then he couldn't get her out of my mind after that and when Scorpius ventured into the Gryffindor locker room and saw her in a towel, he knew he was insatiably hooked. She left him unexpectedly wanting more and it filled his every thought so much that he could barely concentrate on anything else.

There was something about Rose that intrigued him more than any other girl. She honestly always had. Most girls wore too-tight shirts with their cleavage popping out. Rose lived in sweats. Most girls folded their skirts up to show off their leg. Rose seemed disgusted by it. Most girls curled their hair or used Sleakeazy on a daily basis to make themselves look perfect. Rose's signature hairstyle was a messy ponytail. Most girls thrived on being beautiful. Rose had no clue how hot she really was. Most girls threw themselves at a guy in a rather desperate way. Rose's game appeared to be hard-to-get (though Scorpius believed it was unintentional).

The fact that she came off undesirable made her more desirable to Scorpius Malfoy. It helped that she really was bloody gorgeous, which actually annoyed the shit out of him. He wouldn't be thinking about her as much as he was if she wasn't so good-looking. He could have let that one kiss be it. But no, of course she had to be one of the hot ones. It was always the hot ones that messed with a seventeen-year-old's male mind the most.

Rose Weasley was still the biggest irritation in his life. She thrived on picking fights on him and she always had to be right. She was bossy and controlling and had a stick up her arse ninety-nine percent of the day. She came overprepared to class and always had her nose in a book. She walked the halls with her head held high all because she was the daughter of two-thirds of the Golden Trio. And she got everything handed to her on a silver platter.

But no matter how annoying the girl was to Scorpius, that didn't mean he also couldn't find her insatiable. Despite her nuisances, she was also one hell of a snogger and when he had removed her sweater and was staring at her half-naked torso, he was very aware that Quidditch had done her body very good. She was one of the more fit girls he had ever hooked up with and he liked to believe that meant she was flexible. He was determined to find out the answer to that one.

Rose was curled up on the couch in sweatpants and oversized sweatshirt with an essay on her lap when Scorpius strolled into the Head dorm after finishing patrols with Haydn Thomas, a seventh-year Gryffindor. She didn't even look up, too engrossed in whatever she was currently writing.

"Hey," Scorpius greeted, dropping on to the armchair beside her.

"Mm" was her only greeting as she glanced down at her notes perched on the coffee table before returning her eyes to her essay.

"My, what a lovely greeting."

"Stop," Rose urged. "Don't distract me."

"It's an essay. Believe me when I say you'll be able to pick up where you left off."

" _Stop_ ," she whined, shaking her head. "I literally need two more sentences and then I am giving you free reign to talk my ear off if you so insist."

"Talking isn't really what I had in mind."

She shot him a glare before revisiting her essay. Scorpius yawned and leaned his head against the back of the chair as he shut his eyes, waiting for her to finish. Prior to their recent arrangement, he wouldn't have even bothered saying anything to her. He would have wandered in and headed up to his room, ignoring her the entire time. Now, he relished in these moments when it was just the two of them.

"How were patrols?"

Scorpius' eyes fluttered open as he glanced back over towards Rose. Her notes and parchment were now stacked neatly on the coffee table and she was leaned against the armrest of the couch with her arms folded across her body. "They were patrols," he drawled. "Besides busting Noah and Elle in the courtyard, nothing terribly eventful happened."

"I swear those two get caught at least twice a week," she sighed. "They've been dating for two years now. Haven't they learned how to sneak around the castle without being caught?"

"Not everyone is as lucky as us to have the privacy of the Head dorm," he smirked.

She rolled her eyes. "Subtle," she drawled sarcastically.

He chuckled. "Haydn was asking about you."

Her brow furrowed. "Why?"

"I think he's taken a liking to you, Weaslet."

"Doubt it," she argued.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because it's not like I've made myself all that available lately."

"Yeah, but what you birds don't seem to realize is that only makes you more desirable."

She lifted her head off the armrest to glare at him. "First of all, don't refer to our gender as 'birds' again if you know what's good for you. Second of all, what kind of twisted logic is that?"

"Oh, it's not logical at all. It's just how us men work."

"Men are stupid."

Scorpius laughed, offering her a curt shrug. "Can't say that I totally disagree with that. But there's something about a girl who plays hard to get that's very attractive. The more they don't want to let anyone in, the more we are desperate to try to break that barrier."

She rolled her eyes. "It's not that I'm playing hard to get or that I don't want to let anyone in," she argued. "I just don't have time. In case you haven't noticed, our seventh year is jam-packed full of Head duties, Quidditch responsibilities, general schoolwork, and N.E.W.T.s preparation."

Scorpius considered her words before saying, "Where does shameful snogging come in?"

She shot him a look. "Never, if you keep this up."

He laughed as he pulled himself off the armchair and took a seat at the other end of the couch opposite her. "So are you interested?"

She blinked. "In what? Shameful snogging?"

"We'll get to that in a second," he teased. "But I'm talking about Haydn Thomas."

Her eyes narrowed. "How is that any of your business?"

"Can't a guy be curious about who the girl he's shamefully snogging is actually interested in?"

"I'm not interested in anyone, Malfoy," she sighed, shaking her head. "As I've already said, I don't have the time or the energy to think about anything but finishing out the schoolyear. Dealing with some flirty schoolgirl crush sounds exhausting so I'm taking the year off."

He stared at her curiously, sensing a bit of dispassionate guardedness in the way she spoke. She had once been so upbeat and lively and there was something about her this year that seemed distant and sad. She had always been a bit of on edge around him, but lately it seemed as if everything he said pushed her buttons more so than it ever had in the past. It struck him that it was possible she was still reeling from her not-so-ideal break up with Cameron Zee, but he had never gotten the impression that she had been particularly heartbroken over it. But now he just wondered if maybe she hid it well.

"Take a whole life off," Scorpius argued. "Relationships are nothing but trouble, if you ask me."

She met his gaze curiously. "Don't you think you'd have to try your hand at a relationship first before making that assumption?"

"Hell no."

She found herself chuckling. "I'm sure there are about a thousand girls willing to tame you."

"Is that flirting I'm sensing?"

She shot him a look. "I am not one of those thousand girls, Malfoy."

He smirked. "I know what girls are looking for, Weaslet, but as interested as they are, I am not. That's why our arrangement is so perfect. I get to reap all the benefits without having to deal with any messy consequences."

She rolled her eyes. "You're such a prat, Malfoy."

"I'm aware," he said with a shrug. "Now as lovely as this rather unexpected conversation has been, have we reached the shameless snogging portion of the night?"

This was typically the part where she'd roll her eyes but she couldn't help but smile. "Oh, why the hell not?" she said, pushing herself away from the armrest and crawling over to where he sat.

"Well, gee, could you act a little more excited?" he said with an overdramatic sigh.

"Less talking," she whispered as she nestled herself between his legs, inching her face closer to his, "More snogging."

He chuckled as he leaned down and pressed his lips hastily to hers. Just like all the other kisses they had shared, it set her body on fire with an unexpected intensity. His fingers wound themselves into the front of her sweatshirt, holding her close to him, as their lips collided like the two desperate teenagers they were.

She could feel her heart beating a mile a minute and he loved the feeling of her on top of him. That mere thought made him harden and he tried to distract himself from it by trailing his hands up her shirt and squeezing her breast over the thick cloth. If he wasn't mistaken, she wasn't wearing a bra and that only turned him on more. He let out an embarrassing moan as she trailed her tongue against his bottom lip before plunging his mouth over his. Their tongues were swirling together almost immediately and the temperature in the room began to rise.

He pulled his lips from hers and ran them down her jaw, kissing and licking and nibbling at her neck and loving the whimpers that fell from her mouth. She pulled away for only a second and tore her sweatshirt over heard, discarding it to the side and capturing his mouth with hers once again.

He was right, she wasn't wearing a bra and it was already driving him crazy. He tore his lips from hers and trailed down her jaw, her neck, her shoulders, and tickled her nipple with his tongue before grazing his teeth across it. She arched her back, moaning faintly as his lips danced across her breast in the most seductive way. She could feel his erection underneath her and so much of her wanted to feel him in her mouth. But the smarter, wiser side of her told her that she needed to pace herself or she was going to do something she knew she'd later regret.

Scorpius could sense her hesitation and pulled his mouth up to meet hers again, kissing her ferociously before reluctantly pulling back. He wanted nothing more than to rip all of her clothes off of her and have his way with her right then and there, but he wasn't about to screw up what he considered was a brilliant arrangement between them. Screwing it up meant he no longer got to snog her and it meant they would be forced to go back to being at each other's throats. And he much preferred kissing her than he did fighting with her.

He reached down and handed her sweatshirt back to her, offering her a coy smile. "As always, this was fun," he smirked as he watched her pull the Gryffindor sweatshirt back over her head.

She laughed lightly before pulling herself off of him and falling back against the other side of the couch. "Y'know, if we had considered doing this years ago, that would have saved us a lot of detentions."

"Yes, that thought had crossed my mind. Too bad we can't go back in time, Weaslet."

She shrugged, getting up off the couch and grabbing her schoolwork resting on the coffee table. "Guess we'll just have to make up for lost time then," she teased, winking at him before heading towards her bedroom without another word.

Scorpius watched her go with a grin. His seventh year just got a lot more fun.

* * *

 **Thursday, October 8** **th** **, 10:36 PM  
** **Entrance Hall**

Rose was leaned up against a column waiting for sixth-year Jax Livins for prefect patrols but the minutes kept ticking by and he appeared to be a no-show. She was about to head back to the Head dorm and force Scorpius on patrols with her when she heard footsteps coming around the corner. Glancing that way, she stiffened immediately when Cameron Zee came into her view.

"Hey, Ro-"

"What the hell are you doing here?" she scoffed.

He frowned. "Jax got injured at Quidditch practice. I offered to step in."

"No," she spoke coolly. "I'll get Malfoy to fill in."

She started to walk away but Cameron reached out and grabbed her arm before she could get far. "No, please, Rose," he spoke softly, "I've been wanting to talk to-"

"Don't bother," she scoffed. "I'm not interested."

"Please, Rose, I just…I wanted to say…I don't…I…"

"You planning on finishing any of those sentences?" she snorted. "If you've really been meaning to talk to me, you would have had a better speech ready. Please just leave me alone."

She ripped her arm from his grasp and started up the stairwell. "What I did to you was really shitty," he urged. "I shouldn't have done it."

She froze halfway up the stairwell, slowly turning around to face her ex-boyfriend. "No," she whispered, blinking back the onset of tears. "You shouldn't have."

He saw the tears shining in her eyes and he cringed. "Oh, Rose, I'm-"

"What's going on here?"

Rose stiffened as she glanced over Cameron's shoulder with a frown. "Malfoy," she said breathlessly. "What are you doing here?"

"Jax is in the hospital wing screaming his pretty little heart out while Pomfrey is mending his broken bones. It was safe to assume he wouldn't be making patrols," he drawled, slowly making his way over to the two of them. "What's Pretty Boy doing here?"

Cameron shot him a look. "Jax asked me to step in for patrols tonight."

"That's not the protocol," Scorpius pointed out. "If a prefect is unable to fulfill their duties, the Head Girl or Boy is supposed to fill in."

"It was last minute," Cameron retaliated. "I figured it would be easier just to fill in myself."

"Again, that's not-"

"I think he gets it, Malfoy," Rose interrupted irritably. "Go back to your House, Cameron. Malfoy can fill in from here."

Cameron frowned. "Rose, please just-"

" _Go, Cameron."_

He looked none too pleased to be dismissed but with a grunt, he obliged.

Once gone, Rose glanced down at Scorpius from where she stood on the stairwell and nodded at him to follow her. With a frown, he wandered up the stairs and the two of them headed down the hallway.

"What was that about?"

Rose glanced towards Scorpius, frowning in confusion when she noticed slight anger in his eyes. "Just like he said. He was filling in for Jax."

"Let me rephrase: why the hell didn't you kick his ass?"

Rose sighed. "That's not exactly my game, Malfoy."

"It should be. He's a fucking prick."

Rose rolled her eyes, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. "Why do you say that?"

He looked at her incredulously. "Are you kidding me, Weasel? You know perfectly well why I'm saying that."

She grew quiet as they headed up another stairwell, passing by whispering portraits. "Why does it matter to you?"

He blinked in surprise. "What?"

"I'm perfectly aware he's a prick but that's my problem, not yours."

He hesitated and against his better judgment said, "That douchebag was fucking some girl behind your back and thought he could get away with it. Believe me when I say that makes him a prick in anyone's eyes."

She cringed and suddenly wished she hadn't bother bringing it up at all. A part of her hated Cameron Zee, but another part of her kept reminding her that once upon a time she was in love with him. And it that part of her that didn't have her hating Cameron at all. It only had her hating for herself for falling for a liar and a cheater. But it wasn't as if she was going to spill her darkest insecurities to her mortal enemy so she instead said, "McGonagall asked us to patrol the North Tower tonight. We should probably start there first."

"Whoa, hold up," he urged, grabbing her arm and stopping her from going any further. "Why is it that you don't seem to particularly care that he dicked you over?"

She glared at him, the image of Cameron and Amanda in the closet together taunting her mind. "You don't know shit about me, Malfoy," she snapped, ripping her arm from his. "Don't you dare try and psychoanalyze me."

"I'm not trying to psychoanalyze you," he sighed. "I just don't understand how you can let him get away with what he did to-"

"Stop," she pleaded, shaking her head. "What happened between me and him isn't any of your business so please just-"

"It became my business when I happened to be there the night that you found out he was fucking Amanda Gray."

Her heart stopped at the bluntness of his words as she stumbled backward slightly, glaring up at him. "Yeah, and don't you realize that you were the _last_ person I wanted there to witness that?" she whispered hoarsely. "Out of everyone in this entire school, it just had to be you to watch me get completely humiliated. The guy who lives to see me humiliated. So if you think for one goddamned second that I'm going to actually have a conversation with you about that night, you're more delusional than I thought."

She stormed off but Scorpius was too quick for her, grabbing her arm before she could get anywhere. "I may not be your biggest fan, Weaslet, but no one deserves to find out the guy they love is fucking some other girl. That's not a humiliation I ever want to be witness to. Even to you."

She wasn't sure whether to slap him for continuously reminding her of Cameron's transgressions or thank him for showing unexpected compassion, something she had never seen him show towards anyone. So she did either. "C"mon," she muttered. "The North Tower is calling our name."

He frowned, watching as she walked away. He knew it was none of his business but he had known quite a few girls who had been broken up with and they typically walked around the school in a daze of heartbreak. Their eyes were swollen and red, their face void of makeup, showers seemed to not be an option, and they were prone to hysterical outbursts. Rose never acted that way. Not once. When she ran into Cameron and Amanda in the storage closet, she didn't even say anything. She just stared in horror and before anyone could say anything, she just ran off. The next day, she acted the same way she always had as if she hadn't just been humiliated by the guy she supposedly fell in love with. It didn't seem right. Yet he knew he was hardly the type to understand what was going through Rose Weasley's mind so he wasn't about to try.

He hurried up the stairwell after Rose, catching up with her halfway down the hallway. "What do you say we put that North Tower to good use?"

Rose shot him a look. "How about you don't ever suggest that again if you ever want another chance at snogging me?"

He chuckled. "What if I promise to never mention Zee again?"

She hesitated. "A quick snog and then we continue with patrols."

He grinned triumphantly. "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

 **Friday, October 9** **th** **, 8:28 AM  
** **Herbology**

"So he actually tried to talk to you?" Alice scowled as she and Rose ventured into greenhouse #3 together.

"Hardly," Rose drawled. "It didn't sound like he had anything to say."

Alice made a show of rolling her eyes. "Well, it has to be said. Cameron Zee is a fucking idiot."

Rose just chuckled and shrugged. Truth is, she hated when people called him an idiot or a prick or any other name because it was just a reminder that for a short period of time she had trusted that idiot or prick. For a short period of time, she had loved him. For a short period of time, she thought he was the one.

So really if anyone was an idiot, it was her.

Rose dropped into a plant station beside Albus, who was looking at them curiously. "Why the hell are you talking about Cameron Zee?"

"No reason," Rose said immediately, ignoring the look she was now getting from Scorpius.

Alice let out a frustrated grunt. "Because he had the audacity to try and talk to Rose last night."

"Ace," Rose warned, shooting her a pleading look.

"He did _what_?"

It was Scorpius who responded. "He thought he would play the role of Knight in Shining Armor by filling in for Jax as prefect on patrols last night."

" _Malfoy_ ," Rose groaned, pulling her jacket and scarf off. "Can we please not talk about this?"

"Knight in Shining Armor, my ass," Albus snorted. "He's the farthest thing from it."

"Seriously, guys, can we please not-"

"Oh my _God_ , Roe," Alice interrupted with wide eyes. "Is that a hickey!?"

Rose's eyes widened slightly before shaking her head. "No! Just a Potions experiment gone wrong."

Scorpius was trying not to laugh while Albus and Alice exchanged skeptical looks. "When would a Potions experiment have gone wrong without us there?" Albus questioned, trying to get a closer look.

Rose shoved him away. "That's certainly more likely than me with a hickey. I mean, who the hell would I be snogging?"

Alice and Albus shared another look before shrugging. "She makes a good point," Alice teased.

Thankfully, the subject was dropped as Professor Longbottom walked into the greenhouse and called his class to order. Rose could feel Scorpius' amused eyes on her and it took everything inside of her to keep her eyes on Professor Longbottom.

"Good morning, class," he greeted. "Who can tell me what plant is sitting on my desk?"

It came as no surprise when both Scorpius and Rose's hands shot into the air.

"Mister Malfoy?"

"It's a Venomous Tantacula, a plant that is best known for its fatal bite and its dangerous spikes, though those spikes hold healing powers," he said. Hesitating, he added, "It's a plant most people prefer to steer clear of."

"Oh, great, sounds like a lesson I want no part of," Leona Goyle said with a sigh, earning a ripple of laughter from the rest of the class.

"No need to worry, Miss Goyle," Neville said with a chuckle. "That's what this pile of gloves and overcoats are for."

"And here I thought we would be putting on a fashion show."

"Miss Goyle," he warned and she merely grinned sheepishly. "Who can tell me what use their spikes provide us?"

This time he called on Rose.

"The spikes are best known for being used in certain medicinal potions to stop dragon pox scarring."

"That is correct," Neville spoke. "And that brings us to today's lesson."

"Please tell me we are not going anywhere near those spikes," Al groaned, earning another round of laughter.

"We are indeed!" Neville said with a grin. "But the best part of managing one of these dangerous plants is the use of a simple Severing Charm. It helps stun the plants, rendering them immobile for a few minutes, as well as severs the spikes, causing these tentacles to immediately die so that we may collect them without injuries. I just urge you all to pay attention as the moment you turn your back and the Venomous Tantacula comes out of its stunned state, you are looking at a nasty sting. Now please, grab a pair of gloves and an overcoat and I will provide your stations with a Venomous Tantacula."

Both Rose and Scorpius volunteered to grab what they needed. On their way up to the front of the room, Rose leaned over and whispered, "Next time, _don't leave a fucking hickey_."

He smirked. "I make no promises."


	7. Delightful Distraction

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay! It's been a crazy month. I will try to be better about updating! Thank you to all who have reviewed. Keep it up!

Sidenote: the reason this story is rated M shows up at the end of this story so if you prefer not to read about their sexual activities, feel free to skip it.

* * *

 **A Different Kind of Love Story**

Chapter 6: Delightful Distraction

By ByeByeBirdie

* * *

 **Saturday, October 10** **th** **, 3:16 PM  
** **Quidditch pitch**

"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! The chaser isn't supposed to throw the quaffle right at the freaking keeper! They're supposed to aim _away from the keeper_! Did you only pick up a broom for the first time last week because your skill is massively lacking at the moment, Weasley!"

"Oh, quit your yapping," Roxanne grunted, wiping the sweat from her brow. "It was one bad shot because _someone_ keeps interrupting my concentration."

"One bad shot could lose us the match!" Cody growled.

"If that's true then we must not be very good because we'd be one hundred and forty points behind."

"Why must all Weasleys talk back?" Cody groaned.

"Hey, don't drag me into this!" Hugo cried out from where he sat by the hoops.

"Or me!" Rose scoffed.

Cody let out an exasperated sigh. "Look, if it was up to me, I'd keep you all out here until you learned how to play a decent game of Quidditch but the Hufflepuffs have the pitch in fifteen minutes," he muttered. "But we have to be better about being on our game. We have to be the best at all times, not just when it's most convenient to us. No losing focus and no distractions. That's what lost us the game last time."

"Uh, ouch?" Rose drawled.

Cody shrugged. "I could say it a few hundred times if you'd like."

"Once is enough."

"Good. Hit the showers. We'll pick this back up on Monday night."

The Gryffindors all sped towards the ground as they headed towards the locker room together. They were chatting about their chances against Ravenclaw when movement outside the locker rooms made them all look. Almost immediately, there were seven set of identical scowls.

"Spying on us?" Cody snapped at Scorpius. "What, is cheating the only way you think you'll win?"

"I don't have to cheat to win," Scorpius pointed out. "Or do you not recall our last match? Here, let me provide you with a reminder: we trounced you."

Brady lunged at him but Roxanne and Rose grabbed the back of his robes before he could do any damage. "Oh, c'mon," Brady hissed. "Just let me get in one punch!"

"He's not worth it," Rose spoke, shooting the Slytherin a look.

"Tell that to all the girls who swoon over me on a daily basis," Scorpius spoke with a smirk.

Rose felt her face heat she glared at him. "Yeah, and that hasn't given you a big head at all," she drawled sarcastically. "What the hell are you even doing here?"

"Practices aren't off limits to spectators," Scorpius spoke. "And I was bored. There was an Exploding Snap Tournament happening in the Slytherin common room but I got eliminated in the first round."

"Guess you're not good at everything you do," Rose drawled.

"That sounds a lot like bitterness," Scorpius retaliated. "It's almost as if you lost to me during our last match. Oh, no, wait, that actually happened."

"One punch!" Brady pleaded.

"No, I need that hand next Quidditch match," Cody argued, shooting the beater a look.

"I'll still have the use of my left hand."

"Done."

"No one's punching anyone," Rose argued, sending a warning look to her teammates.

"Ah, you just want him all for yourself?" Roxanne teased her cousin, nudging her with her elbow.

Rose ignored the blush creeping into her cheeks at the double entendre. If only Roxanne knew how much of Scorpius she was keeping to herself. " _No_ ," she groaned at her cousin. Glancing over at Scorpius, she vowed to wipe the smirk off his face. "Is there any particular reason you're still standing there, Malfoy?"

"Well, isn't that obvious?" Scorpius smirked, folding his arms across his chest. "To remind you of the loser you truly are."

"I'd consider shutting up, Malfoy," Roxanne growled.

"Let him say what he wants," Rose argued with a shrug. "It's all he's got in life. Gloating about his accomplishments because they are very few and far between."

The smirk on Scorpius' face quickly faded. "I have a lot more than you, ugly duckling," he snarled.

"Oh, good, and we have gotten to the name-calling portion of our afternoon," Hugo chimed in with a shake of the head. "With you two, it was bound to get that. For Merlin's sake, haven't you two learned to steer clear of each other yet?"

"No can do, little Weasel," Scorpius grunted. "We were born to insult each other."

"And here I thought I was born to actually do something worthwhile with my life," Rose muttered as she slid past the Slytherin towards the locker room.

"It's not like you've done anything with it thus far!" Scorpius called out after her and wasn't at all surprised that she flipped him off.

"Was it really worth the trek down to the Quidditch pitch just to piss off my seeker?" Cody snapped at the Slytherin before he hurried after Rose.

Scorpius smirked. "Pissing off Rose is what I do best," he said to no one in particular.

* * *

 **Saturday, October 10** **th** **, 3:55 PM  
** **Head Dorm**

Scorpius was lounging on the couch when Rose strolled into their common room forty minutes later, her wet hair twisted into a bun and her broom dangling at her side. She shot him a quick glare before strolling over to her stairwell.

"Oh, c'mon, are you seriously mad at me?" Scorpius chuckled.

She whirled around at the bottom of her stairwell. "No, Malfoy, I'm not bloody mad at you. I'm not going to bother spending any amount of time caring about what you do or say."

"Hm, could have fooled me. You look mad."

Her eyes narrowed at him. "You came looking for a fight today," she scoffed, shoving her broom against the wall and turning to face him. "It's the only reason you bothered to hang outside the locker rooms at the end of our practice. And I don't appreciate you wasting my goddamned time."

He shrugged as he pulled himself off the couch and wandered her way. "I think you're still pissed because of the Quidditch match."

She clenched her fists, thinking that punching him might not be part of her Head Girl duties. "Why are you still taunting me?"

"Because it's easy."

She opened her mouth to retaliate but he was cutting her off with a kiss. She shoved him away from her, glaring at him. "You can't just snog me to shut me up, Malfoy."

"I think that's an excellent way to shut you up."

"You're such a-" she was cut off once again by his lips pressed against hers. It took her a few more seconds of their tongues tangling together before she pushed him away from her once again. "You're infuriating, y'know that?"

"And you're uptight," he said with a shrug. "These are things we've been aware of now for six years. And if you want me to stop insulting you, I'd suggest just snogging me."

She shot him a scathing look as she folded her arms across her body. "That can't just be our answer to everything now."

He smirked. "Seems like the best kind of answer to me."

She had to tighten her fists to keep herself from hexing him. "No, you don't get to be the piece of shit you are to me in public and expect me to just fawn all over you in private. It doesn't work that way. I won't let it."

Scorpius' eyebrows shot up into his forehead at the irritation riddled in her voice. "So what do you want from me?" he sighed. "Because I hardly see us being polite goody-goodys to each other at any point."

"I'm not saying we have to be polite goody-goodys," she grumbled, rolling her eyes. "But don't seek me out to piss me off. We have enough quibbling run-ins without you actively looking for a fight."

Scorpius made a show of rolling his eyes as he shook his head in frustrated disbelief. "Fine, I won't go _looking_ for a fight but you can't make me stop quarreling with you when we just happen to be in each other's near vicinity," he muttered irritably. "Any other requests, your highness?"

She smirked. "You really hate giving into me, don't you."

"It's safe to assume that where you're concerned, I pretty much hate everything about you."

She shrugged. "I suppose that means you don't want to snog me then, hm?" she teased, winking playfully before heading towards her stairwell.

"Not so fast," he grunted, reaching out and grabbing her arm. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Hm, no, I completely remember how much I hate you."

He shot her a wry look, which earned a chuckle from her, followed by a shrug. She could still silently hate him while pleasing her sensual side. "You've got a half hour."

He grinned before kissing her.

* * *

 **Saturday, October 10** **th** **, 6:30 PM  
** **Great Hall**

"So how do you plan on getting back at him?"

Rose glanced up from her treacle tart with a furrowed brow. "Who and what are we talking about?"

"Malfoy," Alice chuckled. "Albus mentioned Scorpius interrupted your practice."

"Ah," Rose said with a mere shrug. Yes, he interrupted practice and then a half hour later she was snogging him on the couch like the two horny teenagers that they were. But she also got him to promise he wouldn't go looking for a fight from her so she considered it a rather successful afternoon. "While Roxy thought I was just waiting to punch him, I'm actually going with this new concept called ignoring him."

Glancing up at her friend, she couldn't help but laugh at Alice's awestruck expression. "Is that such a crazy thing?" Rose chuckled.

"Yes!" Alice practically shouted. "You two don't ignore each other. You never have. I have begged you to do so and Albus has done the same and that's only fueled your fire."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Maybe we chose not to ignore each other in the past, but we've matured."

"Not likely."

Rose scowled. "We're the Heads of this school. We're supposed to be role models and all we're doing is showing younger students how to best their enemies."

"Well, they've got to learn from somebody."

Rose shot her a look, ignoring the taunting laugh spilling from Alice's lips. "I'm tired of fighting with him," she admitted, knowing that it was one of the main reasons she agreed to snog him. Fighting only made her seethe inwardly and caused wrinkles on her forehead. Nothing ever got resolved. Their entire relationship was cyclical with no end in sight. Now, they had a shot. They could put the fights behind them and focus on just completing their seventh year with both of them intact.

"Hm," Alice commented, recognizing the content flicker in her friend's eyes. "Maybe you have matured."

Rose smiled, stopping herself from sneaking a peek towards the Slytherin table. "I'd like to think so."

Alice chuckled as she dug into her butterscotch pudding.

Rose hesitated as she finished off her treacle tart. "Of course that doesn't mean Scorpius has."

Alice burst out into laughter as she offered her friend a vigorous nod. "Ah, there's my girl."

* * *

 **Sunday, October 11** **th** **, 1:00 PM  
** **Library**

"Why am I not surprised to find you here?"

Rose glanced up from her Potions essay on the use of goblin blood in healing potions with a roll of the eyes. "Maybe because I told you this morning that I'd be spending the afternoon in the library?"

Scorpius chuckled as he slid into the chair beside her. "Yeah, I was too busy staring at the half-naked girl on the couch to bother listening to her."

She jerked her head up in panic, scanning the room frantically to make sure no one heard.

"Oh, relax," Scorpius said. "No one's around, Weasel. Only you spend your entire life in the library."

"If that were true, I wouldn't have any time to snog you."

Scorpius grinned. Seconds ago she was worried about people overhearing and now she was joking back. "And miss out on the most fun you've ever had? Not a chance."

She rolled her eyes. "Are you here to tease me or to work? Because if it's the former, you can excuse yourself right now."

He sat back in the chair, pretending to contemplate her words. "Can I do both? Because I'm not sure I could give up teasing you completely."

She shot him a look. " _Good-bye, Malfoy_."

He grinned. "I'll be good."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Why do I find that hard to believe?"

"You're right, that didn't sound right coming out of my mouth."

She smirked. "Well, at least you're aware you're a nuisance."

"I prefer to call myself delightful distraction."

"No one in their right mind would ever call _you_ delightful."

"Good thing I hang around a bunch of people who aren't in their right mind," he joked. "Enter you."

She rolled her eyes. "Do you always have to have the last word?"

"Do _you_?"

"Malfoy!" she whined, pointing the end of her quill at him. "Are you going to let me get back to work or are you going to continue to be a delightful distraction?"

"Aha! So you admit that I'm delightful!"

She lifted her head to glare at him but the teasing grin on his face turned her glare into an unexpected laugh. "I hate you."

He chuckled. "I'm aware."

He reached into his bag for his notes and textbook and pulled them out as the two of them worked in silence.

An hour later, Rose had the sudden realization that this had to be the longest she and Scorpius were in the same room without a heated argument breaking out.

She found herself smiling. Maybe snogging him really was the answer to working together better.

* * *

 **Tuesday, October 13** **th** **, 7:30 PM  
** **Head Dorm**

" _Stop_ ," Rose laughed, shoving Scorpius' shoulder as he attempted to kiss her. "We really do have to come up with the patrols schedule for next week. We have our meeting in a half hour and we're not even close to finishing this schedule."

"Eh, just put the two of us on patrols every night," he smirked, settling back against the couch armrest in their shared common room. "We'll find ways to entertain ourselves."

She shot him a look. "Right, because the prefects won't be at all suspicious of the two of us willingly spending time together."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. Slytherin has the pitch on Monday so don't put myself or Blaine on patrols."

"Quidditch practice ends before patrols."

"Yes, but I'd like to find _some_ time to do the mound of homework that's sitting on my desk calling out to me."

"Maybe if you spent less time snogging me, you'd have more time for schoolwork."

His eyebrow shot up. "Please tell me that wasn't an actual suggestion."

She smirked, shaking her head. "Of course not," she said. "Just making a point."

He could only roll his eyes at the mere suggestion. The two of them had been spending the last three weeks snogging each other every chance they got. Sharing a Head Dorm certainly helped the situation, though they seemed to have an unspoken agreement that their activities would be limited to the common room. There was something far too intimate and private about their bedrooms and it was clear to Scorpius that while Rose was enjoying their snog sessions, she was afraid of looking like a fool. And he suspected that the idea of being another one of Scorpius' so-called victims who he ditched the moment he got bored was a surefire way to make her look like a fool.

So he went along with it. He let her choose the pace. He let her be in control. He was happy doing whatever she wanted whenever she wanted and the moment he even tried to dominate over her would be the moment she'd put it all to an end. And that was the last thing he wanted.

"Cole and Donna on Monday," Scorpius said. "Lysander and Quinn on Tuesday. Jax and…oh, no wait, Jax has Charms Club. Er…Redford and Hattie on Wednesday. Who has the pitch on Thursday? Gryffindor?"

Rose nodded, furiously scribbling down his suggestions on to the calendar in her lap.

"Okay, not Brady then. Y'know what, put Redford and Hattie on Thursday. How about you and Brady take Wednesday? I can do Friday with Lisbeth. Cameron and Francesca on Saturday. And-"

"I wouldn't put Cameron with Francesca. The two of them are apparently going out."

Scorpius hesitated. He sensed the bitterness in her tone but didn't call her out on it since he had promised not to bring him up again to her. "Does that rule them out to patrol together?"

"Yeah, because I hardly doubt they're going to be doing a good job at patrolling the school with their tongues in each other's mouths."

Scorpius shrugged and went with his usual tactic of throwing in a joke. "How about me and you take Saturday then?"

"How about you blow me?"

"I'd much prefer to be the one being blown."

She felt a blush creep onto her cheeks as she glared at him. "If you ever want that to happen, I'd suggest you change the subject."

He smirked. "Cameron with Elle on Saturday. Noah and Francesca on Sunday."

Rose glanced down at the calendar and read it over. "You're actually willing to take a Friday? Don't the Slytherins live for Friday night parties?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, and this is a convenient excuse to get out of it. Leona has been bugging the shit out of me and any chance I can get away from her, I'm happy to grab," he muttered. Smirking, he added, "Besides, I'm hoping you and I can have our own little party on Friday night, if you catch my drift."

She rolled her eyes. "Y'know, I realize that this may be a novel concept for you, but you could, oh I don't know, actually _tell_ Leona she's bugging the shit out of you instead of just avoiding her."

He made a face. "I find that girls eventually take the hint that I'm blowing them off after the fifth or sixth time it happens. Better to avoid a confrontation if possible."

"And yet you have no problem confronting me every possible second you can."

He blinked in surprise, contemplating the question curiously. "Fighting with you is hardly the same as fighting with some girl I'm no longer interested in."

She saw the curious glint in his eye and felt her own curiosity grow inside of her. "And why is that?"

"Because you don't start blubbering like a broken faucet. Dealing with a crying girl is not my cup of tea."

"So because you've never seen me cry, I'm worthy of fighting against?"

"I find it very hard to believe that you've ever shed a tear. You're pretty dead inside."

She glared at him. "This coming from the guy whose family are known Death Eaters."

Scorpius frowned almost immediately. Their banter recently had turned lighthearted and witty, but the occasional snide remark still slipped in. It was a reminder that he still found her fairly loathsome. "How about we get back to talking about the patrols schedule?" he muttered.

She glanced at him hesitantly. "How about we get back to talking about how you're a coward with women?"

"I'm not a coward!" he scoffed. "These girls should know exactly what they're getting into with me. When have I ever shown any interest in an actual relationship? When the proverbial ship has sailed, they need to realize it was gonna happen all along."

"Did you ever think that maybe some of those girls think that they could be the one to change your mind and all they want is some respect?"

"I should hope they don't think they'll change my mind. And don't you go getting any ideas either."

Her eyes narrowed at him. "If you ever catch me trying to turn our arrangement into something more, you better believe it's because I'm someone else influenced by Polyjuice Potion."

He couldn't help but laugh. "Are you done writing up that schedule yet?"

"Yeah. Why?"

He reached over and grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards him. "Oh, I think you know why," he whispered before hastily capturing her lips with his.

She tossed the patrol schedule on to the coffee table and leaned into the kiss as he removed his hands from her arm and moved them to frame her face. Almost immediately, too immediately in her mind though she quickly ignored it, she felt the center of her core begin to heat up with unrelenting desire as she felt his toned body beneath hers. As their tongues swirled together in their usual fight for dominance, she was aware of the bulge that was now pressed up against her within the constriction of his slacks.

His hands moved down the curve of her back and slipped under the fabric of her shirt. She let out a slight gasp at the coolness of his hands against her skin as she let her teeth lightly bite down on his bottom lip, eliciting a light moan from the Slytherin. She pulled her mouth off of his, a smirk resting on her face as she happily pulled her T-shirt over her head and discarded it on to the floor.

She could see the lust in his eyes as they traveled from her face down to her black lacy bra and then slowly back up to meet her gaze. "Do you purposely wear racy bras as a way of torturing me?"

She smirked. "No, I purposely remove racy bras as a way of torturing you," she said before unclasping it and letting it join her shirt on the floor.

The bulge in his slacks grew at the sight of the gorgeous woman on top of him. "It's definitely working," he said before pulling her down towards him so he could press his lips to hers. Not so surprisingly to either one of them, his right hand moved up the side of her abdomen until it was resting on her left breast. He gave it a gentle squeeze, their lips staying attached to one another's as the fire swelled between both of them.

And that was about the time they heard footsteps outside their portrait.

They both paused in horror and listened as a familiar voice spoke the password.

" _Shit, shit, shit_ ," Rose hissed, scrambling off of Scorpius and reaching down to grab her bra and shirt off the floor. Not having enough time to put both back on, she hastened to throw the T-shirt over her head and stuffed the bra behind the couch cushion at the same time that Scorpius reached over and pulled the patrols schedule on to his lap to make it look like they were busy doing anything else besides what they were just doing.

"I _refuse_ to do patrols with Robin Sedgwick!" he said just as the portrait swung open and in walked Albus. "The girl is mildly obsessed with me after I drunkenly snogged her _once_ and I am not interested in spending a half hour wiping her drool off my robes."

He pretended his heart wasn't beating a mile a minute.

"If we had to pick your patrols partners off who you _haven't_ snogged at one point or another, there'd be no girls left for you to be paired with!"

She pretended as if she wasn't braless.

"Even better. No patrols for me."

Heavy beating.

" _Malfoy_."

Hard nipples.

"Guys," Albus interrupted with a sigh.

The two of them looked up, fake smiles appearing on their faces. "Oh, hey, Al," Rose greeted.

"Did you give him our password?" Scorpius scoffed.

Rose rolled his eyes. "Last I checked, he was your best mate. Why shouldn't he have the password?"

"I just don't like the idea of you spreading our password around the castle."

"I'm hardly _spreading it around_!"

"I bet you've told Alice."

"She's my best friend. Of course I told her. But I wasn't aware that telling all of two people was considered spreading it around," she drawled. "Though considering how many girls I've seen traipsing through here, you're the one I should be worried about bringing unwanted guests into our space."

"I haven't told anyone the password!"

"The girls you choose to associate with may be brainless but even they may have a hard time forgetting the password you're forced to utter in their presence when entering the room with you."

Scorpius opened his mouth to argue but found himself without a rebuttal. "We should consider changing the password."

"Afraid your slags are going to come knocking on your door for a midnight booty call?" she drawled.

He smirked. "I change my mind. The password stands."

"You're repulsive."

"Ah, yes. That's one of my better qualities."

"Are you two done?" Albus sighed, folding his arms across his body.

Sensing one final glare at each other, they eventually lifted their gazes towards Albus. "What are you doing here, Al?" Rose asked.

"You two have been suspiciously MIA lately. I feel like I haven't seen you in weeks."

"You see us in the Great Hall," Scorpius argued.

"Classes."

"Quidditch practice."

"Courtyard."

"Slytherin common room."

He rolled his eyes. "Are you two trying to test my patience?"

"You clearly need a girl to occupy your time with so that you don't miss us as much, mate," Scorpius smirked. "Did you ever get anywhere with Hattie?"

"Y'know, suddenly I'm thinking not hanging out with you was a blessing in disguise."

"I'm telling you, Hattie is a sure thing! Go for it, mate."

"And what about you and Leona?"

Scorpius winced. "Please don't mention her name to me. She is driving me insane."

"Then you should probably know she plans to wait outside your prefect meeting for you tonight."

"Fucking hell," he swore, tossing the quill on to the coffee table with a groan. "Does that girl not know how to take a hint?"

Rose finally chimed in. "Guess that proverbial ship is still very much docked."

Scorpius shot her a look. "I don't like it when you throw my words back at me."

"Yeah, well, I don't like sitting here with a douchebag as my Head partner but nothing I can do about that," she sighed. "Unless murder suddenly became legalized."

"How nice of you to forego Azkaban to keep me alive."

She climbed off the couch with a shrug. "For now. My position may change depending on how much you annoy me this year," she said, heading towards her stairwell. "We have to leave for the meeting in five minutes. Please attempt to look presentable by then."

"Says the girl who's not wearing a bra!" he cried out after her.

Albus shuddered. "One, that's my cousin so ew. Two, how is it you even notice these things?"

Scorpius turned to gape at him. "I'm a seventeen-year-old male. What else am I supposed to notice?"

* * *

 **Tuesday, October 13** **th** **, 9:00 PM  
** **Prefect meeting**

Scorpius spent most of the prefect meeting trying to figure out what to say to Leona. What was really troubling to him was why he was so willing to discard her. He was only sharing in snogging sessions with Rose, so there were other needs he had that Leona would have been more than happy to fulfill. But it was as if his forbidden relationship with Rose had somehow made all other relationships insignificant. Shagging Leona didn't seem nearly as satisfying as snogging Rose privately where not a single soul besides the two of them were even aware of it.

" _Malfoy_."

He jumped, glancing over to where Rose was glaring at him. "Er…sorry?"

"Halloween," she muttered through gritted teeth.

"I hear it's a holiday that falls on the 31st of October every year."

Her glare only intensified. "I asked if you were able to help with picking up some supplies per McGonagall's request next Saturday in Hogsmeade."

"Next Saturday is a Hogsmeade trip?"

"Do you ever listen to a damned thing I say?"

"Not usually, no."

She scowled. "Y'know what? Forget it. I'll pick up the supplies myself. You'll inevitably find some way of screwing it up anyway."

He rolled his eyes. "Give me half the list. I'll take care of it."

She adjourned the meeting at that time, watching as the prefects nearly raced out of the room. Rose knew that Scorpius had been distracted throughout the whole meeting, which was no different than the meetings he simply remained silent during. She was the one who ran the meetings and limited any and all questions to Scorpius as much as possible. But for this meeting, she had a strong suspicion that his distraction had more to do with the girl waiting for him outside the door than his usual defiance.

"You could at least pretend to be paying attention," she spoke coolly, gathering her papers and shoving them into her bag.

He frowned. "Yeah, er…sorry about that."

She froze, slowly lifting her gaze to stare at him. "What did you just say?"

He blinked. "I didn't realize that was ambiguous."

The confusion sparkled in her eyes. "You've never apologized a day in your life to me, Malfoy."

"Apologies are a sign of weakness."

"Or a sign of respect."

He shrugged, not in the mood to get into a debate.

"Stop stalling and go talk to her," Rose sighed.

He frowned. "Leona?"

"No, Moaning Myrtle. _Yes_ , Leona."

He rolled his eyes. "Are you always this crabby?"

"I am when I'm in your presence."

He opened his mouth to retort but was interrupted by a knock on the door. The door creaked open and Leona peeked her head in, smiling when she caught sight of them. "Hey, hope I'm not interrupting."

Rose was about to say no, but Scorpius cut her off. "Actually, you are. We were just in the middle of discussing Halloween plans and the next Hogsmeade visit, so if you don't-"

"Ooh, a Hogsmeade trip is coming up?"

Scorpius swore under his breath, very aware of the amused smirk resting in Rose's expression. "No definitive date yet," he spoke hastily.

"Next Saturday," Rose chimed in.

He glared at her.

"That soon?" Leona said with a sweet smile. "How exciting."

"Er…sure," he muttered. "Anyway, Weasley and I should be getting back to-"

"We can finish this up later," Rose interrupted, her smirk only growing. "You are free to go with Leona."

The look on his face was murderous, only causing a chuckle to escape from Rose's lips.

"Oh, good!" Leona squealed. "Shall we, Scorp?"

Scorpius hated the nickname Scorp.

"Yeah, go ahead, _Scorp_ ," Rose said with a grin. "She's all yours."

He shoved his papers into his bag, leaning in very close to Rose and saying, "You're lucky you're so bloody hot or you'd be a dead woman later."

She looked at him, shocked, but before she could retort, he swung his bag over his shoulder and followed Leona out.

* * *

 **Tuesday, October 13** **th** **, 9:45 PM  
** **Head Dorm**

While Scorpius was getting an earful from Leona after he manned up and told her he wasn't interested in her, Rose was back in the shared common room pacing the floor as she relayed Scorpius' words over and over in her head.

 _You're lucky you're so bloody hot_.

Since when did Scorpius think she was _hot_? He had been calling her an ugly duckling since she was eleven years old. Not once had he expressed any thoughts of her being anything other than a short, frizzy-haired, flat-chested, plain-faced ugly redhead. That's all she had ever expected to be in his mind. And in a moment when he was clearly angry with her, he decided to drop an unexpected bomb like the fact that he considered her hot? What was she supposed to make of that?

Still pacing the floor, she heard someone outside the portrait muttering the password. When the portrait swung open, in stormed Scorpius with a less-than-enthusiastic look on his face. "You're an even bigger bitch than I thought, Weasel."

"Look who's fucking talking!"

His eyebrow shot up at the hostility in her tone. "Seriously? What the hell could I have possibly done in the past half hour to warrant your anger on top of Leona's?"

"I'm done with this," she sneered, pointing between the two of them. "You. Me. _I'm done_."

She turned on her heel and stormed off towards her bedroom.

" _Why_? What the hell has changed!?"

She flipped him off as she started to take the stairs by twos.

"What is your goddamned problem, Weasley? I just turned down Leona for you!"

"No!" she snapped, whirling around to glare at him. "You turned down Leona for _you_. Because you got bored with her just like you get bored with every other girl you've ever set your sights on. Don't even remotely pretend as if getting an earful from Leona is somehow my fault."

"Was I blaming you? _No_ ," he snorted. "I'm saying that I rather like this arrangement we have going on and now-"

"Yeah, well I'm no longer interested."

He could only stare at her, completely flabbergasted at what could have possibly changed between them. "Alright, let's just back up a bit here, shall we? Do you mind telling me why the hell you're suddenly angry with me?"

"Go to hell, Malfoy," she snapped.

"Fine, but I'm taking you with me unless you tell me what the hell it is I did!"

 _"You don't get to call me hot!"_

He blinked. Out of all the possible reasons why she'd be mad at him, the fact that he had called her hot didn't make the list. "And why not?" he argued huffily. "You are hot."

She strode across the room and happily slapped him across the face. " _Fuck you_."

He rubbed his cheek with a wince. "Y'know, Weaslet, most girls who were just called hot by someone typically thanks them, they don't throw a fit."

"You're such a piece of work, Malfoy," she spat. "You have spent every day for the past six years reminding me that my hair is a frizzy mess, I'm too short, my eyes are too close together, my freckles are unattractive, my ears are too big, my boobs are too small, and I'm too pale. Is there anything I'm missing?"

He gaped at her. "I also told you that you could use a bit of makeup."

She glared at him. "Yes, so you don't get to suddenly pretend I'm anything more than just some passing snog, d'you hear me?"

He blinked, pulling his hand down from his cheek. "Let me get this straight," he spoke hesitantly. "You _want_ to be ugly?"

She was seriously considering punching him. "No, I just don't need you to comment on my appearance!"

"You're seriously mad at me for calling you hot?" he drawled irritably. "You're positively certifiable, Weasley."

" _Leave me alone_ ," she grumbled, turning on her heel and heading back towards her stairwell.

"Well, what do you want me to say?" he exploded. "Do you want me to admit that I was lying all those years when I was insulting your appearance? Because I was!"

She froze, slowly turning around in slight confusion. She said nothing at first, just staring at him as he avoided meeting her gaze. "Then why'd you say it?" she asked softly.

He frowned. She looked unexpectedly hurt and he couldn't figure out why. "Why did we say any of the things we said? To get a rise out of each other," he said with a shrug. "I'm aware that calling you ugly was always a bit childish but it seemed to work so I continued doing it."

She knew in that moment she was the one being childish, but he would never understand how much his words had always affected her. She loved her family, she really did, but she always felt so average in the sea of Weasleys. She wasn't as pretty as Victoire or as fashionable as Roxanne. She wasn't as well-liked as Lily or as popular as Molly. She wasn't as funny as Dominique or as sarcastic as Fred. She wasn't as athletic as Albus or adventurous as James. She wasn't as charming as Hugo or as daring as Louis. She wasn't as creative as Teddy or as sweet as Lucy. It was as if she wasn't good enough. She was just Rose, the girl who supposedly got everything handed to her on a silver platter but didn't deserve it. So she was used to people hating on her. Talking badly about her. Insulting her. And she was used to pretending that none of it mattered.

But it did matter. It mattered because she always believed that she was nothing special. That she merely existed, not that she had any sort of special qualities inside of her. The only time she proved anyone wrong was when it came to her schoolwork because it was the only thing she could control. It was the one thing she could be good at. She worked hard so she could make herself believe that one day she really could be a somebody. But she knew she'd always be second best at everything else. She knew she couldn't compete with Albus at Quidditch. She knew the guys would never flock to her the way they flocked to Roxanne. She knew people would turn to James when in need of a pick-me-up. Even her younger brother was far more adored than she ever was. So when Scorpius called her ugly all those years, the only thing she could do was accept it as the truth.

She said none of that to Scorpius. She only said, "Leave me alone, Malfoy," and rushed up the stairs into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

Scorpius stood in the common room, stunned at the rather confusing display that had just gone down. He had expected to waltz into that room and berate her for forcing him to have a conversation with a girl he had no desire to be around. He expected her to laugh, finding the whole thing rather amusing, and he expected to shut her up with a rather heated snog session.

What he did not expect was for her to be angry at him for calling her hot. What he did not expect was a slap to the face. What he did not expect was to see betrayal in her eyes and feel guilt that he had been the one to put it there.

With a rather reluctant sigh, he trudged up her winding stairwell and knocked on her door. "Open the door, Weasel."

"I thought I told you to leave me alone!" her muffled voice cried out.

He sighed again and in reaching for the doorknob, was happy to see it was unlocked. Pushing open the door, he slowly entered her room. He wasn't surprised in the slightest to see that her room was completely orderly. Not a book or a quill or an article of clothing was out of place.

"I don't believe I invited you in," she spoke coolly.

He sighed, leaning against the doorframe hesitantly. "Look, I know that you and I do the whole screaming at each other thing rather well, but is it possible for us to try and have a civilized conversation?"

She pretended to consider his words before shaking her head. "No."

His eyes narrowed. "Are you always this difficult?"

"Do you always continue a conversation with a person who is clearly not interested?"

"I'd like to know why you're not interested."

"Besides the fact that it's you?"

He was getting increasingly irritated and decided that if she wasn't going to tell him what was wrong, it was time for him to guess. "Why won't you tell me what the hell is the matter with you?"

"The only thing the matter with me right now is you trying to have this bloody conversation," she hissed. "There's the fucking door. I'd suggest you use it."

He ignored her, his eyes narrowing in utter frustration. "Fine, you don't want to tell me, I'll just guess."

"This should be entertaining."

He glared at her before saying, "The only thing I can somewhat assume here is that you may have actually believed me all those years I decided to call you an ugly duckling. True or false?"

She said nothing, so he took that to mean true.

"And when I changed things up and told you that I thought you were hot, it only confused you. True or false?"

Once again, she said nothing. Once again, he knew the answer was true.

"And now you're frustrated with both me and yourself because you don't know what to believe. True or false?"

More silence. More true.

He frowned hesitantly, his heart filling with a combination of guilt and dread for putting the despair in her eyes that he was now staring at. He had never once considered Rose's feelings in the past, mostly because he had been convinced she lacked any, but standing in front of her now, he could see her feelings had been hurt all those years.

"Okay," he spoke softly. "So I suppose all I can really do here is apologize to you for ever making you believe anything less than the truth."

She continued to stare at him, the silence in the room deafening, before she said, "And what's the truth?"

"That you may quite possibly be the most beautiful girl in the entire school."

Her breath hitched, her eyes meeting those of his in utter shock. She said nothing, for what could she possibly say to her mortal enemy who just proclaimed her to be the most beautiful girl in the entire school. Something that Rose had to believe was a lie. With girls like blonde-haired, blue-eyed Quinn Travers and thinner-than-a-tree-branch Leona Goyle and big-boobed Poppy Swithers, Rose knew she didn't compare. But the fact that Scorpius said it anyway meant more to her than if he actually believed his words.

"Damn, you'll just say anything for a quick snog, won't you?" she murmured.

"I'm not just saying that to get out of a fight," he muttered. "I mean it. Just because I despise your very presence doesn't mean I don't have eyes."

She blinked. "What the hell does that mean?"

"It means I can hate you and still recognize that you're good-looking at the same time," he grunted with a roll of the eyes.

She looked uneasy at his words, trying to catch the insincerity in his voice with little luck. She could see he felt slightly uncomfortable as she stared at him and that only made her wonder if he meant it. Only she knew he couldn't mean it because being nice was not something Scorpius Malfoy was accustomed to. He was used to saying whatever he needed to in order to get what he wanted. But she appreciated him saying it anyway, even if he didn't mean it. So she just shrugged. "Hm," she mused curiously. "Well, if this is your way of getting me completely naked tonight, it may be working."

He smiled. Rose was surprised to see it wasn't his usual smirk like she expected. It was a genuine smile, one of relief and admiration. "No," he said, shaking his head, "That was my way of telling you the truth after six years of lies."

"Okay, stop," she urged, her cheeks blushing a bright scarlet. "It was nice the first two times. Now it's just creepy."

He chuckled. "You should consider yourself lucky. I only snog the hot ones."

She groaned. "You're a pig."

"I know," he said and wasn't surprised when she rolled her eyes at him. Clearing his throat nervously, he murmured, "So can I, uh, ask why you ever supposedly care what I said about you? You always made it pretty clear you didn't give a damn."

"I didn't care," she was quick to argue. "I just...I mean...it's nothing. Never mind."

His eyes narrowed curiously. "Clearly it does or you wouldn't have made it into such a big deal tonight."

"I didn't make it into a big deal," she drawled. "I just-"

"You yelled at me for calling you hot," he snorted.

She rolled her eyes at him. "I've just become accustomed to pretending things don't matter when they really do," she murmured vaguely. "So you may have never thought anything you said bothered me, but there's a good chance it might have at one point, alright?"

He continued to look confused. "Why is that something you've become accustomed to?"

She felt a flutter in her heart at the uncharted territory they were heading down. She was not about to start spilling her insecurities regarding her family to the one person who would somehow thrive on it. "I'm sorry, I wasn't under the impression tonight was going to be the Malfoy-Weasley heart-to-heart conversation. If I knew about that I would have called in sick."

He rolled his eyes. "Do you have the capacity to not be such a snarky prig all the time?"

"Nope."

He let out an exasperated grunt before once again rolling his eyes. "Fine, don't tell me what's got the stick up your butt," he murmured, glancing at her with a hesitancy in his narrowed eyes. "Look, Weaslet, I know we don't like each other. I will always think that you're neurotic and uptight and you will always think I'm selfish and arrogant. And we will continue being those people to each other. But we are unfortunately partners and have to work together so I promise not to lie to you anymore just to get a rise out of you. When I do insult you – because let's face it, I will – I'll stick to the truth."

She cocked her head to the side curiously, not sure what to make of his suggestion. Frowning hesitantly, she said, "The truth, hm?"

"Yes, it's this brilliant new concept in which a statement is recognized as reality as corroborated by evidence or personal experien— _agh_!" he cried out, ducking as a pillow was chucked at him. Laughing, he lifted his head up to look at her.

"In the spirit of honesty," she said curiously, "I kinda like it when you're groveling at my feet."

He scoffed. "How could any of this be construed as groveling?"

"You came after me, did you not?" she pointed out. "When have we ever done that?"

"I came after you because you were putting an end to our arrangement and I was not about to let that happen!"

"Oh, so you only called me beautiful to get into my pants?"

"Precisely."

She glared at him. "Is that the honest answer?"

He swore. "I'm really going to regret suggesting the whole honesty thing, aren't I."

"Most definitely."

He chuckled. "Well, I've officially embarrassed myself enough for one night," he said with a shrug. "I'll get out of your hair now, but-"

"Why?"

He blinked. "Why what?"

She smirked as she reached down to pull her T-shirt over her head and tossed it across the room at him. "Why would you want to get out of my hair?" she smirked, slowly laying herself back against her pillow suggestively.

He could actually feel his heart beating against his ribcage as he stared at her T-shirt at his feet before s lowly glancing up towards her in utter disbelief. He had never wanted anyone more than he wanted her in that moment. All he wanted to do was race over to her and fuck her until they were both so sore that they couldn't move. Except he couldn't sleep with her because she had already said that that wasn't going to be an option. And he wasn't entirely sure he could stop himself once the two of them got tangled up in the sheets.

This was the precise reason he had been perfectly content leaving their hook-ups to the common room.

"You okay, Malfoy?"

He shook the naughty thoughts from his mind and said nothing about it because there was no way in hell he was going to pass up an opportunity to snog her in her own bed. "Oh, yeah," he said with a chuckle, shutting the door behind him and wandering over to the bed. "You just look incredibly sexy right now."

He smirked when her cheeks turned red from the compliment. "How about less honesty and more snogging?" she whispered, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and pulling him into her so their lips were inches apart.

"I think I can manage that," he whispered back, plunging his lips against hers with an intensity he had never felt before. His tongue traced her bottom lip, begging for access and she granted it, their tongues dancing against each other's with uncensored passion. He only broke his lips from hers to tear off his shirt, throwing it on to her floor before capturing her lips with his once more.

She ran her hands down his toned abdomen as he slowly climbed on top of her, pressing his weight against her as their lips continued to tussle. Breaking his mouth from hers, he gasped for air and met her gaze. He saw lust and gratitude staring back at him and it actually scared him. Once upon a time, the only thing he could read in her eyes was anger and hatred. And now he was staring at her as if they weren't mortal enemies. As if they meant something more to each other.

He tore his eyes off of hers for fear of seeing something else he wasn't sure he wanted to see and left a trail of kisses down her jaw and toward her neck, slowly plunging his lips towards her bra-covered breasts. "Y'know," he smirked, pressing a kiss on her shoulderblade, "I liked you much better without this bra on."

She giggled and lifted herself off the bed just barely so she could slip her hands behind and unclasp her bra. In doing so, she let him toss it aside, somehow feeling more comfortable being half-naked with Scorpius than she had ever been with Cameron.

Pushing her ex-boyfriend from her mind, she pressed her lips to his for only a second before he pulled back and began twirling his tongue around her left nipple, flicking it just briefly before tugging at it. His hand kneaded at her other breast and she suddenly felt things she hadn't thought possible, passion rising in her very vein. A light moan rose in the back of her throat as she let all thoughts escape and just let her body do the talking.

He switched breasts, his mouth teasing the other one. Her breathing quickened, her eyes fluttering closed and her lips parted as a whimper fell from her mouth. A whimper he was sure he wanted to hear from her over and over again. Every sound she made drove him crazy. Every kiss they shared had him wanting more. He could feel the bulge in his pants dying to escape, but he somehow ignored it as he led his lips back up her chest and captured her mouth with his once again.

This was typically the time that she'd pull away, offer him a small smile of gratitude, and throw her clothes on before they went their separate ways. Except she didn't want to pull away and she definitely didn't want to put her clothes back on. She wanted more. She wanted him.

The thought scared her and yet thrilled her all at the same time. It had been a long time since she had felt such an insatiable desire in the pit of her stomach and the last thing she wanted to do was stifle it.

So she didn't.

Ignoring the rather loud pounding in her heart, she slowly reached her hand down to the button on her jeans, never straying her mouth from his. He felt her hand fumbling underneath the weight of his body and he paused. He knew what she was trying to do and more than anything, he wanted her jeans off and he wanted to be doing things to her that she couldn't even imagine in her wildest dreams. But she had been resistant up to this point so it threw him for a loop.

Slowly pulling back from her, he met her gaze, the unasked question resting in his hesitant eyes.

She felt a chuckle bubbling in her throat. "I did hint at the fact that there was a chance of me getting completely naked tonight, did I not?"

He was sure she could feel his heart beating out of his chest. "I didn't think you were serious about that," he smirked.

She smiled softly before pressing her lips to his. "I didn't either," she joked when she pulled away. "Guess that's another thing we can add to the 'honesty' pile."

He laughed, but it was cut off by her kissing him again. The button already off on her jeans, he pulled the zipper down slowly and began tugging the jeans down her legs and tossing them aside, leaving her wearing nothing but black lacy knickers.

She was so bloody hot and she didn't even realize it.

He led a small trail of kisses down her stomach, running his hand up her thigh until he felt her already soaked knickers. He was so hard at that moment that it physically hurt, but all he could do was focus on her. Flicking her underwear out of the way, he ran a finger across her clit and down towards her moist opening, eliciting a powerful moan from the redhead. But that was nothing compared to the guttural cry that fell from her lips when he slowly inserted a finger inside of her. He wondered how often Cameron did this to her. He wondered if she had the same reaction. He wondered if her face flushed the same way and if she made the same sounds.

Scowling inwardly, he pushed all thoughts of Cameron Zee out of his mind as he inserted another digit. Another whimper spilled from her lips and he suddenly couldn't take it anymore. He tore the underwear down her legs and practically flung it across the room as he nestled his face between her legs and plunged his tongue against her clit. She cried out, gripping the sheets on the bed as her stomach tensed almost immediately with an explosion of lust. Circling her clit with his tongue, he continued to pump his fingers in and out of her now soaking opening. She panted, moaned, whimpered, and cried out with every inch of passion inside of her. He replaced his fingers with his tongue, lapping up her juices and grinning as she quivered underneath his tongue. Her legs spread wider as he continued to suck at her core. Her stomach tightened, her heart soared, and she squirmed with every touch. When he felt her legs begin to shake, he knew she was close and he couldn't help himself as he smirked. He trailed his tongue back up to her clit and re-inserted his two fingers inside of her. He felt her begin to tighten around them and vigorously circled her clit with his tongue, waiting for that moment. _Needing that moment_.

She didn't hold anything back. " _Malfoy_!" she screamed as she climaxed, her entire body convulsing around his two fingers as her hands clung to the sheets, needing something to hold on to. She shut her eyes tightly, seeing nothing but stars as she tried desperately to catch her breath.

She had had a small share of orgasms, all thanks to Cameron. But nothing, _absolutely nothing_ , compared to that intimate moment she just had from Scorpius Malfoy.

As she was coming down from her high, he wiped his lips and fell to her side, kissing her shoulder.

"I should tell you I'm ending this arrangement more often," she eventually said when she did catch her breath.

"After that?" he smirked. "You wouldn't dare."

She laughed and he leaned over to press his lips to hers, feeling rather satisfied with himself. He rarely spent the time fingering a girl or giving a girl oral. He was more the type to get a girl into a broom cupboard, have his way with her, and walk away without another thought. But since he couldn't have his way with Rose, the least he could do was show her what she was missing. And he definitely did just that.

"Y'know," Rose mused, turning on her side and facing him, "I don't think this is what the founders had in mind when they created the Head Dorm."

"You don't think the four founders had horny tendencies themselves?"

She laughed, shoving his shoulder playfully before leaning over and pressing her lips to his. As their lips danced against one another's, she slowly climbed on top of him and he became very aware of her naked body pressed up against his. Pulling back slightly, he met her gaze and saw the impish gleam staring back at him. She should have felt uncomfortable but there was something so freeing about hooking up with a guy she cared nothing for that she didn't have time to be uncomfortable. She only had time to feel satisfied.

"I think the four founders aren't the only horny ones," she whispered as she led a trail of kisses down his jaw towards his neck and then to his bare chest and slowly down his stomach until her lips perched just above his waistband. As she met his gaze, he was very aware that he had stopped breathing. His erection was practically aching to be released and there she sat, her fingers lingering on the button of his pants, teasing him with that cute little smirk. He thought he might burst right then and there.

She suddenly felt nervous as she unbuttoned his slacks and unzipped them, slowly pulling them down. He helped discard them, kicking them off to the side, and she was quick to pull down his boxers, his erection springing free. She had given several blow jobs to Cameron, seeing as she wasn't having sex with him, so they weren't unfamiliar to her. But she had only ever done it for one guy and she had a strong suspicion that Scorpius was used to being on the receiving end. So what if she wasn't good at it? What if he didn't like it? What if he found her inadequate?

She shoved the thoughts aside as his boxers fell to the floor and before she could even consider the answers to any of the questions, she wrapped her mouth around his shaft and almost immediately, a hissing moan fell from his lips as his hips bucked. She was agonizingly slow and methodical, her tongue swirling in gentle circles before she plunged him deep into her mouth. His legs tensed and he lifted his hips to meet the bob of her head as she took him deeper and deeper. He knew he wasn't going to be able to hold on for much longer, which he felt was slightly embarrassing seeing as he was known to last quite a while, but the things she was doing with her hands twisting at the bottom of his dick as she drove her mouth around him was something he had never witnessed before. She sure as hell knew she was she was doing and while for a split second he was slightly disheartened that she had clearly done this before with Cameron Zee, all thoughts of her ex-boyfriend escaped his mind as she continued to ride him with her mouth.

He jerked and moaned as he felt himself grow closer to the edge. "Oh, fuck, Weasley," he whimpered, wanting and needing every second of her. He had never felt closer to a girl before, everything about that moment feeling eerily intimate in the best way possible. She continued to stroke him with her hand and her mouth, pushing him into the deep opening of her throat until he couldn't take it anymore.

"Oh, I'm going to…I'm…oh, oh, _ohhhh_ ," he cried out loudly, his hips spasming as he spilled into her mouth, everything inside of him awakening and coming alive as he rode out every last second of pleasure.

His heart was beating wildly out of his chest as he tried desperately to catch his breath. She removed her mouth from around him and wiping her mouth, she slowly crawled over to his side. She settled in beside him as he continued to pant heavily, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Fucking hell," he whispered once his breathing slowed down. "I should call you beautiful more often."

She chuckled, resting her chin on his chest with a slow shake of the head. "No way. The world is not ready for a nice Malfoy."

He could have scowled but he only laughed, shoving her playfully before leaning over and pressing his lips hastily to hers. She responded by tugging on his lip, running her tongue alongside the bottom of it. It was a simple motion but it drove him wild.

She really was beautiful in every way. He had obviously noticed before. When he was growing into a teenager, he was very aware of his feelings towards the opposite sex. And every time Rose's nostrils flared when she yelled at him, every time her brown eyes sparkled with fervor when she hexed him, every time her cheeks flushed just at the sight of him, he couldn't help but notice how hot she was. But it wasn't as if he could ever admit that to her. So instead, he did the opposite and called her ugly. He hated the fact that it had apparently affected her because she really was one of the hottest girls in the school.

He just hoped that one day she could see it, too.

The two of them lay there for a few minutes before Scorpius shifted and climbed off the bed. He wasn't inclined to spending time with a girl after hooking up with her and Rose was no different.

"I have about a million essays I have to write," he said as an excuse, offering her a small smile as he pulled on his boxers.

She shrugged, not surprised at all that Scorpius was giving her an excuse to get away. He hardly seemed the type to stick around and cuddle a girl he liked much less one he didn't.

Pulling the sheet over her body, she turned on her side to face him. "Join the club," she said with a shrug. "But hey, if you get bored later, you know where to find me."

He abandoned his pants as he turned to face her with a smirk. "I may have to take you up on that, Weasley."

She simply smiled at him and watched as he gathered the rest of his clothes and quickly left the room. Being a girl, she was supposed to want to curl up to the guy and cuddle with him and enjoy being held. But doing none of that with Scorpius felt right. She had tried the cuddling with Cameron and he had smashed her heart to pieces. And she had never felt half as satisfied with him as she did with Scorpius.

So she went to bed that night alone, but smiling.


	8. Second String

**A/N:** Much thanks to all of you who have reviewed and who have shown interest in this story! You're the reason I keep writing.

* * *

 **A Different Kind of Love Story**

Chapter 7: Second String

By ByeByeBirdie

* * *

 **Wednesday, October 14** **th** **, 10:40 AM  
** **Transfiguration classroom**

Scorpius couldn't get Rose out of his damned mind. No matter what he was doing, his thoughts only seemed to rest on the incredibly sexy hook-up the two of them shared just the night before. They had stuck mainly with snogging to begin with and her top had come off a few times, but last night was more than he ever could have imagined. He was certain she wasn't aware of just how gorgeous she really was. Maybe he was partly to blame for that, calling her ugly all those years, which filled him with unexpected guilt. Which surprised him because he had never particularly cared what she thought before. But things had clearly changed over the past few weeks. Hooking up with Rose had given him newfound appreciation for her. She still made his skin crawl in so many ways – she was pushy and bossy and manipulative and had a sense of entitlement about her that annoyed Scorpius. But he could at least now appreciate her for more than the insufferable Know-It-All he had always claimed her to be. Now, she was striking his fancy unlike any other girl had in the past. He had a feeling it had to do with the sneaking around. There was something incredibly alluring about a forbidden relationship and it appeared he had landed himself in one. And he didn't hate it.

Which was the part that scared him.

Rose could feel his eyes on her as she laughed with Alice in Transfiguration. They were supposed to be nonverbally changing the color of each other's eyebrows and Alice so far had only been successful in giving Rose a unibrow.

"Change it back, Ace!" Rose laughed, rubbing her bushy eyebrows.

"I don't know how!" she whined. "I don't even know how I gave you a unibrow in the first place."

"I don't notice a difference," Scorpius' voice chimed in from where he sat beside Albus.

Rose whirled around to glare at him. "Oh, is that what you _honestly_ think?" she snarled, trying to ignore the visions of their naked bodies running through her mind. She had a feeling he was only goading her as a way of acting as if everything hadn't suddenly changed between them.

He frowned before flicking his wand. The unibrow was now gone. "I suppose your own eyebrows suit you just fine."

Albus' own eyebrows shot up at the slight compliment, but Alice cut him off. "Bloody hell, Scorpius, how did you do that?" she whined.

"Concentration, Alice," he said, grateful for the subject change. "Stop sneaking peeks at Trey Marshall and focus on the actual transfiguration."

She blushed as Albus' eyebrows shot up and Rose shot Scorpius. "Says the guy who's currently _breaking our concentration_ ," Rose barked, hoping that the loud beating of her heart at the knowledge of what happened between her and Scorpius the night before wasn't obvious to those around her. "How about you mind your own business, hm?"

He tipped his chair on to its back legs with a shrug. "Nah, I was never very good at that."

She rolled her eyes. "Unless you want _your_ eyebrows completely removed, I'd suggest you focus your energy on changing Al's eyebrows and stop bothering us."

"Ah, but bothering you is so easy."

She flicked her wand and his chair was suddenly falling backward. He let out a yelp, flailing as his chair hit the ground. The entire class burst into laughter while Rose stood over him looking triumphant. "And making you look like an idiot is just as easy," she smirked. "Then again, I don't have to try very hard to do that."

He scowled, scrambling to pull himself off the ground. "Do you somehow get off on being the biggest bitch in the school, Weaslet?"

"Mr. Malfoy, mind your language!"

Scorpius pulled his glare away from Rose long enough to look towards Professor Jenkins. "She just pushed me over and _I_ get reprimanded?"

"How about I give you both a detention for disruptive behavior and we call it even?"

"What!? What did I do?" Rose whined.

"Detention for telling the truth!?" Scorpius scoffed. "Everyone knows Weasel's a bitch!"

" _Mr. Malfoy_!"

Scorpius rolled his eyes as he picked up his chair and slammed it on to the ground with a grunt. "Any chance our detentions can be separate?"

"It would be good for you two to spend some time together learning the meaning of the word _compromise_."

"No," Rose said.

"No way," Scorpius snorted.

"Never gonna happen."

"Not a chance in hell."

" _Language, Mr. Malfoy_."

"He's right you know," Albus muttered, stealing a glance towards a fuming Scorpius. "You two could use a bit of obedience training."

Scorpius shot him a glare. "Last I checked, I wasn't a dog."

"Then you should probably check again," Rose muttered before turning her back on him and refocusing her attention on Alice.

His eyes narrowed as he watched her seamlessly change Alice's eyebrows from blonde to black. She had made him the laughing stock of the classroom and landed him in detention and yet all he cared about was finding a time to get her naked again.

He probably could have used a bit of straightening out of his priorities.

Then again, when one of those priorities was a naked girl, his priorities seemed to be pretty on point.

* * *

 **Wednesday, October 14** **th** **, 1:45 PM  
** **Random hallway**

Rose was rushing off to Herbology after spending her lunch in the library when out of nowhere an arm grabbed ahold of her and dragged her into the third floor storage closet. "Oy, _what the hell_?" she cried out, whirling around and rolling her eyes at the sight of Scorpius standing there. "You couldn't have just said 'hi' like a normal person?" she snorted.

"I'm hardly normal," he smirked.

"Something we can agree on," she said, crossing her arms. "What do you want? We have Herbology in fifteen minutes."

"The professor is practically your uncle. Pretty sure you can show up late."

She frowned. "I have enough uncles without adding Professor Longbottom to the mix," she argued, refusing to agree with him even though they both knew his statement was fairly accurate.

"Isn't he like your godfather or something?"

"He's Hugo's," she muttered.

"Whatever," he said, rolling his eyes. "I didn't grab you to discuss your incestuous family. I think you probably know why-"

"I'm not skipping class for you," she scoffed.

He let out a frustrated scoff. "You owe me."

She blinked. "I'm not entirely sure I want to hear your logic for this, but what the hell. _Why_ do I owe you?"

"You got me detention!"

"You got yourself detention," she snorted. "I wasn't the one who called me a bitch."

"Everyone else in this school does and yet I'm the only one with detention."

"They're smart enough to do it out of a professor's earshot."

"Oh, so I'm allowed to call you a bitch just as long as an authority figure isn't around to hear?"

"Something tells me you call me a bitch all the time when authority figures aren't around."

"Hm, true," he mused, shrugging dismissively. "And why the hell are we still talking?"

"Oh, was there something else you had in mind?" she smirked.

"You know perfectly well what I have in mind," he whispered before grabbing her Gryffindor tie and pulling her towards him. He captured her lips with his before she could stop him and he wasn't surprised when she ended up giving in.

They were both ten minutes late to Herbology but Rose told Neville they were finishing up Head business and lost track of time so no points were taken off.

If only he knew what that so-called Head Business really entailed.

* * *

 **Thursday, October 15** **th** **, 7:00 PM  
** **Hospital Wing**

Cody was furious with Rose when she told him she had received detention that night during team practice. He had told her that maybe it was time to put aside her differences with Scorpius and find a way to actually get along so as to avoid detention in the future. She neglected to point out that hooking up with Scorpius _was_ her way of putting aside her differences. But Cody didn't need to know that.

Scorpius and Rose left their Head Dorm and headed to the hospital wing where they were intended to help Madam Pomfrey with inventory.

They were silent most of the way until Rose finally spoke. "Cody's pissed at me."

Scorpius glanced over at her. "Then don't get detention next time."

She scowled. "I believe that was your fault."

"I wasn't the one who hexed my chair to fall over."

"You were the one annoying me."

"I always annoy you."

"And I always respond with a hex."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Well, this conversation isn't going anywhere."

"Then here's a thought: how about we don't talk?"

"Ah, you have other ideas in mind?" he teased, winking at her.

She glared at him. "Is that the only thing that's ever on your mind?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

She scoffed. It was amazing how there were times she actually enjoyed snogging him and then there were other times she wanted to strangle him and leave him for dead. Scowling at him, she hurried up the winding stairwell towards the hospital wing. "How about we get this detention over with, shall we? My time could be better spent with anyone else, I assure you."

"Oh, right like this is a picnic for me, too," he snapped as they pushed open the hospital wing doors.

"Well maybe you two wouldn't be here if you learned to put aside your differences," Madam Pomfrey spoke as she came out from behind one of the partitions.

Rose rolled her eyes. She'll add Madam Pomfrey to the list of people telling her to get along with Scorpius.

If only they knew the truth.

"We just received a shipment of new supplies that will need to be stocked in the back closet," Pomfrey continued. "Everything is labeled. I trust two of the smartest students in the school can figure it out for themselves. And please try not to kill each other in the process."

She headed over to one of the occupied beds, leaving the two of them standing alone to start detention.

Without even acknowledging him, Rose took off towards the closet. She tore into one of the boxes and glancing around the room, started shelving everything in their respective spots. She heard Scorpius shuffling behind her and following her lead.

"I wonder if there any painkilling potions in these boxes that we could swipe and sell to students for a profit."

Rose rolled her eyes, turning around to glare at him. "Do you have a moral bone in your body, Malfoy?"

"Can't say that I do, no."

She rolled her eyes as she tossed a pack of bandages on to the shelves. "Why do you always insist on being the obnoxious jerk that you are?"

"Uh, because I'm really good at it?"

She glared at him. "Is everything just a joke to you?"

He glanced at her hesitantly before shrugging. "Does everything always have to be so serious to you?"

"Not everything in life can be something to just laugh at," she sighed. "You may think I'm uptight all the time, but we are in our seventh year where things actually matter. Now isn't the time to just mess around and have fun. It's the time to buckle down and figure out the future. Figure out who we can be and who we want to be."

Scorpius stopped shelving as he turned around to face her, an inquisitive look in his eye. "You're still figuring out who you are?"

She frowned, peeking at him out of the corner of her eye. "Oh, is this where you say I'm just another Weasley martyr living in the shadow of my parents?"

He sighed. "No, it was a genuine question."

She blinked in surprise, meeting the sincerity in his eyes. "It's hard to tell with you when you spend most of your time joking."

He could tell she was avoiding the question. "Yes, I realize that most of my time is spent in the world of sarcasm and wit. But I'd rather live like that then live with the weight of the world on my shoulders," he prodded. "We're still young. We deserve to have our fun. What happens in the future will happen but worrying about it is going to do no good."

She considered his words and found herself nearly comforted by them. "How about you stick with your jokes and I'll stick with being serious? Merlin knows those are the roles we play."

He rolled his eyes. "So you _do_ know who you are."

She scoffed. "Shut up, Malfoy and get back to work."

He chuckled lightly but obliged. He knew one of the things that Rose hated about him was that he always considered her uptight when she was thought she was just being herself. He had always believed she needed to lighten up but he also understood that she probably felt a lot of pressure regarding her future. He knew all too well what that pressure felt like but he wasn't about to comment. He wouldn't like her to know that they had something in common.

A few minutes went by before Scorpius glanced towards the redhead once again. "How long do you think Pomfrey is going to leave us in here?"

Rose glanced over her shoulder at him, her eyes narrowing. "Why."

He smirked. "I think you know why."

" _Have you gone mad?"_ she hissed, glaring at him. "I'm not hooking up with you in the hospital wing supply closet!"

"Hm, not the answer I was hoping for."

She rolled her eyes, tossing a package of bandages at his face.

"Oy!" he cried out, ducking in shock.

She could only laugh at him. Until an entire box of cotton balls was thrown in her face and suddenly her amusement faded into shock. Glancing towards him, she ducked just in time before a tube of healing paste could hit her in the head.

He grinned at her as she grabbed a box of empty pill bottles and started chucking them at his head. He retaliated by squeezing tubes of healing paste on to her clothes. As he flung cotton balls at her, she grabbed gauze and attempted to wrap him in it. Before either one of them knew what was happening, they were laughing and covered in random medicinal supplies.

When she reached for the syringes, Scorpius cried out in protest and instinctively lunged at her, wrapping his arms around her and laughing as the paste and cotton balls on her clothes seeped into his. She struggled against his grasp, shrieking as he squeezed the excess healing paste into her hair but she eventually laughed alongside him.

Her hair was disheveled, he had bandages wrapped around his arms, both of their clothes were a mess, but neither seemed to care as he instinctively leaned over and pressed his lips to hers.

She grinned as she wrapped her arms around him, kissing him back and momentarily forgetting that Madam Pomfrey could walk in on any minute. It was bewildering to her that in one minute she was actually considering strangling himand in the next minute, she was laughing with him as if they were actually friends. It was clear that he didn't annoy her nearly as much as he used to. That should have scared her but it just made her feel relieved that their arrangement appeared to be doing the trick. Snogging him privately was relieving a lot of their tension publicly. Maybe, _just maybe,_ she might be able to get through her seventh year without actually killing him.

He could see the wheels stop turning in her head as she just let him kiss her. It was something he had noticed a few snogs into their arrangement. She was always so analytical, planning out her every minute of every day. While he was more the type to let things happen as they happen. So when they first started fooling around, he could see her calculating in her mind how long she was going to allow their snog to last before she needed to return to schoolwork or scurry off to Quidditch practice. But she no longer calculated it. She let herself live in the moment no matter how long that moment lasted. And a part him was rather pleased that he had the ability to actually defrost the ice queen if even just for brief moments every now and then.

When they pulled apart, he laughed as a couple of cotton balls fell towards the floor. "You look like a giant marshmallow," he chuckled.

"You look like a mummy."

He shrugged, attempting to unravel some of the bandages. "And you thought you wouldn't snog me in here."

She rolled her eyes, shoving him off of her as she attempted to wipe the paste and cotton balls off of her clothes. "Moment of weakness."

He chuckled before pouring another bag of cotton balls over her head.

"Hey!" she shouted, turning towards him as she attempted to glare at him but the laugh on his lips only caused her to laugh, too. She grabbed the tube of paste and rushed him, slathering it all over his clothes as he attempted to struggle from her grasp, their laughs filling the closet as if they often laughed together when in reality it was a seldom occurrence.

"Uh… _what_ is going on in here?"

Both Scorpius and Rose froze as they turned towards the door where Albus and Alice both stood with shocked looks on their faces. "Would you believe the supply closet exploded?" Rose said sheepishly.

"No" was the unanimous response out of the other two.

Rose rolled her eyes, only realizing then that she was still practically on top of Scorpius. She quickly scrambled away, tossing the paste on to the shelf as her cheeks grew warm.

"She started it," Scorpius said with a shrug as he once again attempted to remove the bandages from his arm.

Rose shot him a look. "That's a child's response, Malfoy."

He rolled his eyes as he glanced back towards the other twosome, who were still staring at the two in bewilderment. "What are you two doing here?"

"Checking up on you to make sure you haven't killed each other," Alice drawled. "Guess we don't have to worry about that considering you two were, dare I say it, _laughing together_."

"You try not to laugh when you're covered head-to-toe in cotton balls," Rose said with a shrug.

Alice and Albus exchanged a look. "But it's you two," Albus urged. "You don't laugh. You kill each other."

"Well, that's a bit dramatic, don't you think?" Scorpius snorted.

"No," Alice said.

"Not at all," Albus agreed.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "If you two aren't here to help with the inventory, feel free to leave."

"It seems as if you have far more inventory to complete now that it's all over your clothes," Alice snorted.

"It's comments like that that are considered unhelpful."

Alice shot him an impatient look. "No need for your snarkiness just because you got caught actually enjoying a moment with your so-called enemy."

Scorpius glared at her, his heart beating a mile a minute. "I was not enjoying a moment. I was enjoying watching her clothes get ruined by paste and cotton balls."

Rose shot him a look, ignoring the laughs that spilled out of Albus' mouth. "I must reiterate what Malfoy said earlier," she grumbled. "I don't want to be doing this detention until midnight so unless you're helping with inventory, you're welcome to leave."

Alice and Albus exchanged another curious look. "Should we be worried about you two?" Albus sighed.

"It's been six years and we haven't killed each other yet," Scorpius pointed out. "I think we can manage to continue that streak for one night."

"Time will tell," Rose muttered, earning her a glare from all three of them.

Still wary, Albus and Alice left, leaving the other two alone.

Rose shot Scorpius a dry look. " _That_ is exactly why we shouldn't be snogging in the supply closet."

"Or laughing apparently," he smirked, finally unwrapping the bandages around his arm.

Rose tried not to smile but she couldn't help it. "You really think we can continue our arrangement without getting caught?"

"It's worked thus far, hasn't it?"

"We've nearly gotten caught twice now."

" _Nearly_. We're still in the clear, Weasley."

Rose didn't bother responding as she grabbed her wand and muttered a simply Scourgify spell on both her clothes and Scorpius'. "Why don't we finish this detention and leave the snogging to our Dorm room?"

He sighed, letting out a shrug. "Snogging sounds a lot more fun than detention."

She glared at him.

Grinning sheepishly, he said, "Your room tonight at 11?"

Rolling her eyes, she nodded. "You're on."

Somehow, they were able to finish their detention, but both of them were distracted by so many random thoughts juggling around in their minds. In a way, that detention was a bit of a turning point for them. Instead of hating the very idea of being around each other, they were able to tolerate each other. Instead of finding every way of insulting each other, they found a way to actually laugh with one another. Instead of wanting to kill each other, they were able to have fun together. It was as if they both realized that hooking up with each other really was the answer to getting along better.

And if their own realization wasn't enough, that night became memorialized as the last detention that the two of them would ever share together.

* * *

 **Wednesday, October 28** **th** **, 8:00 AM  
** **Library**

The next few weeks went by the same way. Rose and Scorpius would continue to bicker with each other in public but the moment they were behind closed doors, they were clawing at each other's clothes. They spent more time naked in each other's presence than they did fully-clothed. They found that snogging was the best way to avoid arguing. It probably explained why their arguments became limited to public affairs only.

"Oy, _Rose_!"

Rose jumped, realizing she was staring at Scorpius across the Great Hall, who was reading a letter he just received with what Rose could only describe as a look of pure hatred. She turned away from him just as he crumpled the letter up and jammed it into his back pocket and glanced towards Alice. "Sorry, what?"

"Will you quit staring at Albus and pretend to be listening to my problems?"

Rose didn't bother correcting her that it wasn't Albus she was staring at. "And what problems do you have?"

"What the hell am I supposed to do with my life?"

Rose blinked. "That is a rather deep question to be pondering over breakfast, Ace."

"Just because you'll most likely go into the Auror field doesn't mean the rest of us know what we want to do," she huffed.

Rose frowned. "What makes you think I'm going to be an Auror?"

"Well besides the fact that your family practically owns the Auror office, you also just so happen to be taking all of the pre-required N.E.W.T. classes."

"I'm talking _all_ of the N.E.W.T.-level classes. They cover all professions," she pointed out.

"Yeah, and you're crazy for doing it, by the way. I barely have enough time to do my work with half of the classload you have. I guess that explains why I've barely seen you lately."

Yes, that, and Rose was spending any and all of her free time hooking up with Scorpius Malfoy.

"Have you had your latest career counseling session yet?" Alice asked Rose.

Just like in their fifth year, seventh years met with their Head of Households once in the Fall and once in the Spring of their final year to discuss after-school aspirations.

"No, my last name starts with a W, Ace. I'll be one of the last to meet with your dad."

"I thought maybe as Head Girl you got special treatment."

"Not when it comes to career choices apparently."

Alice shrugged. "You do realize you can do anything that you want. You're the smartest girl in the entire school. You'd be brilliant at whatever you decide to do. It certainly helps that your family pretty much has all professions covered. Auror, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, _Daily Prophet_. Hell, you could play Quidditch if you wanted to. The world is your freaking oyster."

No, apparently only the world in which her family had their hands in was her oyster. "Well, what do you want to do?" Rose asked Alice, hoping to avert the subject away from her.

" _I don't know_ ," she whined. "This is why you need to help me!"

"You love Potions. Have you considered working in an apothecary or in a research lab?"

Alice hesitated, contemplating her words. "See? This is why I needed your help. You are far better at figuring these things out than I am."

If only she could figure out what she wanted.

* * *

 **Wednesday, October 28** **th** **, 11:40 AM  
** **Head Dorm**

The morning had passed and Scorpius neglected to show up to Potions or Charms. In the past, Rose would have barely noticed. But on that particular morning, she was very aware of his lack of presence. She had seen him reading a letter that morning and she couldn't imagine it was a coincidence that after doing so, he skipped classes. So instead of heading straight to lunch once Charms was let out, she hastened back to the Head Dorm in hopes of finding him there.

While the two of them had gotten rather intimate in their common room and a few times in Rose's room, they had never ventured into Scorpius' bedroom. Scorpius made her believe it was because he was allowing her to call the shots, but the truth was, he had done a lot of naughty fantasizing of Rose in his bedroom (with the occasional wanking) and he had a strong suspicion that should he invite her up to his room, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from fucking her. But as he was still respecting her decision to keep sex off the table (though he could have sworn a few times, she seemed hesitant about that decision) he considered his bedroom off-limits.

He was reading _A Tale of Two Cities_ that Albus had once given him when there was a knock on his door. Sighing, he said, "It's open."

When the door creaked open and Rose stood in the doorway, he blinked in surprise. "Oh. I-I thought you'd be Albus."

She shrugged. "I don't think I've ever seen you miss a class."

He folded down the page of his book and tossed it on to his bedside table. "I have," he murmured, thinking back to when he skipped two whole days his second year when he found out his mother had walked out on him and his father.

When he said nothing more, she frowned. "Is everything okay?"

He glanced up at her curiously, the question a rather unusual one coming from someone who didn't particularly care about him. "Fine," he lied.

She rolled her eyes. "You're going to have to do better than that to convince me, Malfoy."

His eyes narrowed as he slowly sat up in his bed, staring at her skeptically. "I don't have to convince you of anything, Weasel. You're not my professors wondering why I decided to skive off their classes."

Her lips pursed before shrugging. "I suppose that's true," she murmured. "I'm just your fellow Head student who caught you breaking school rules."

"So take off points or give me a detention," he scoffed. "I don't give a shit."

The hostility in his voice was one she hadn't been privy to before, which was ironic considering their penchant for arguing. "I could do that," she contemplated. "Or you could just tell me what the letter you received this morning was about."

His mouth dropped open slightly, his anger wavering into annoyance. "That…that is none of your business."

She frowned. "Fine. Sorry that I care," she said with a slight nod, knowing full well that she was better off not worrying about him. It's not like he wanted it from her and she was more than happy not giving it to him. She started to shut the door, but he stopped her.

"Why?" he questioned curiously.

Hesitating, she turned back around. "Why what?"

"Why do you care?"

She stared at him, the question throwing her for a bit of a loop. Why _did_ she care? She had never once cared about his whereabouts or state of mind so why was she suddenly invested? "I'm not completely heartless," she spoke coolly. "I saw the way you looked after you got that letter and I just wanted to make sure nothing terrible had happened."

He found that to be rather thoughtful, though didn't bother telling her that. "So you were watching me, hm?" he smirked, returning to his usual snarky self.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, so? I catch you watching me all the time."

He shrugged. "That's because I'm contemplating the next time I get to hear you moaning my name."

She made a face. "Classy," she drawled, earning a laugh from the Slytherin.

His own chuckle faded as he glanced at her curiously, biting pensively on his bottom lip before blurting out, "What do you want to do after you graduate?"

She blinked in surprise. "What?"

"It's a simple question."

"A simple question would have been asking me what I had for breakfast. Not asking me about my life goals."

"I didn't ask about your life goals. I asked about an after-graduation plan."

"They're the same thing."

He snorted. "They shouldn't be. For example, a life goal of mine is to become incredibly rich and famous. Something tells me I'm going to need a more concrete plan than that come post-graduation."

"Please tell me you have more life goals than that."

He cracked a smile. Actually, his life goals had nothing to do with fame or fortune and everything to do with acceptance. But he wasn't about to tell her that. "Out with it, Weasley," he urged. "What do you want to do post-graduation?"

She shifted on the landing hesitantly, suddenly wishing she was back to being that eleven-year-old girl who was new to the magical world and didn't need to worry about any sort of plan. As the days dragged on towards graduation, she was acutely aware of the fact that she didn't want graduation to come. She wanted to continue being a kid. A kid who didn't have to have her whole life planned out. "I-I don't know," she said hesitantly.

He rolled his eyes. "Like I'm going to believe the most organized person on the planet doesn't have a plan post-Hogwarts."

"I don't," she snapped angrily. "Just because my mother practically runs the Department of Magical Law Enforcement or because Uncle Harry heads the Auror Department that my cousin Teddy is working at or because Aunt Ginny could get me a job at the _Daily Prophet_ or because Aunt Angelina is the Assistant Coach of the Holyhead Harpies or because James is a legendary rock star or because my grandfather still has an in with the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office or because Dominique is in her third year residency at St. Mungo's or because my Uncle owns his own chain of joke shops of which one is managed by my father or because Molly is a famous fashion designer, doesn't mean that my plan is already mapped out for me."

Scorpius' eyebrows shot way up into his forehead. "Funny, I don't recall asking you what your family wanted you to do. I asked you want _you_ wanted to do."

She looked at him with hesitant eyes. "But you were thinking it," she drawled. "Everyone's thinking it. Oh, it doesn't matter what Rose wants, she has about a million job possibilities lined up after graduation and it's just a matter of picking which family member's footsteps she wants to follow in."

He sighed, sensing the clear frustration in her tone. And he knew why. He could tell from the few words she spoke that she felt all eyes on her from her family and from the rest of the world as to her next move. None of the pressure was coming from within. He knew all too well what that felt like. "No, Weasley, I wasn't thinking that at all," he spoke softly.

She glared at him. "The guy who thinks I get everything handed to me on a silver platter on a daily basis wasn't thinking I could have everything handed to me on a silver platter once I graduate?"

He glared right back at her. "Just because you _can_ have everything handed to you on a silver platter once you graduate doesn't mean that's what you want. I'm asking you what _you_ want to do. What _you_ want to be. What _you_ -"

"I just want to be Rose!" she snapped at him, her frustrations bubbling over.

His brow furrowed. "What?"

She felt the heat rising to her cheeks. "Nothing."

His eyebrow peaked upward. "Sounded like something to me."

She frowned hesitantly, saying nothing as she meditated over the words that had spilled from her mouth. It had been something she had long been thinking but had never actually said out loud. But now it was out there. And she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to take it back.

"I don't want to be just another Weasley," she spoke softly. "I just want to be me. Whoever that may be."

He gaped at her, his heart beating wildly in his chest at the realization that he and Rose Weasley shared something in common. Too bad that what they shared was insecurity. "You'll figure it out," he spoke, talking mostly to himself. "There's never been a challenge you haven't overcome."

She stared at him hesitantly, the words rather comforting coming from him. "I don't hate my family," she blurted out.

And they were right back at not having something in common. "I know."

"I just…" she trailed off, not even sure how to phrase it.

"Want to be Rose without the Weasley sometimes?"

She met his gaze with a sigh. "That makes me sound like I hate them."

"No," he murmured, shaking his head. "It makes you sound like someone who's just trying to find her place in a world that has preconceived notions on who you already are. But if there's any advice I can give to anyone it's don't let the world define you. It's up to you to define yourself."

The words were incredibly thoughtful coming from him and she found herself rather grateful to him for it. Frowning in surprise at the very thought, she said, "Why are you asking me about post-graduation anyway?"

He sighed, thinking about the letter he had stuffed into his desk drawer. Seeing as he had forced her to talk, he supposed it was only fair for him to do the same. "The Wimbourne Wasps have offered me a reserve position on their team starting in August."

Her eyes widened. "They're the number one team in the league right now!"

"I know."

"Malfoy, that's _huge_ ," she said with a vigorous nod, feeling slight jealousy towards him even though she knew she didn't want to play professional Quidditch post-Hogwarts. "Congratulations."

He felt anger settling into his heart at the unexpected praise. "My number one enemy scrounges up the courage to congratulate me while my own father tells me it's a disgrace. Un-freaking-believable," he blurted out without realizing what he was saying.

The look on Rose's face quickly turned into shock. " _A disgrace_?" she repeated in bewilderment. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Scorpius cringed, quickly shaking his head. "Nothing. It's…never mind," he muttered, his cheeks turning pink with embarrassment.

"That most certainly is not nothing," she scoffed.

"No, really," he snorted. "It's nothing."

Her lips pursed curiously. "Any chance this has to do with that letter you received this morning?"

He was going to deny it but he made the mistake of looking up into the unexpected concern in her eyes. And then suddenly so much of him wanted to tell somebody. Wanted to confide in someone. Wanted to not feel so alone all the time. And something told him that Rose might actually understand. So staring into her compassionate eyes, he found himself saying, "You know how you like to remind me that I was born into a family of Death Eaters?"

She winced. "Yes."

"Yeah, well, my father likes to remind me of that very same fact," he grunted. "Usually following it up with a reminder that it is my sole job to bring honor to the Malfoy name because of their own bloody screw-ups. And apparently being some second-string benchwarmer is far from reputable."

"Second-string benchwarmer on the best team in the league," she reminded him.

She was glad to see him crack a smile. "Still not good enough for a _Malfoy_ ," he muttered irritably.

She snorted. "What the hell does he want you to do? Strive for Minister of Magic?"

"To start. Beyond that, his aspirations for me probably include finding world peace, putting an end to global warming, and somehow taking over the role of God when he retires," he muttered.

She cocked her head to the side curiously. "And you? What do you want to be?"

His heart constricted as he met her thoughtful gaze. He said nothing at first, just staring at her with an air of desperation seeping into his expression. Eventually, he smiled hesitantly, an air of defeat in the simple gesture. "Me? I just want to be Scorpius," he spoke softly.

She looked at him, slightly alarmed at the realization that they both had the same aspiration after Hogwarts: to not be associated with their surnames.

She had always believed that she and Scorpius Malfoy were polar opposites but as she stared at him, she realized that they were a lot more similar than she would have liked to believe. Besides the fact that they lived to insult each other and never backed down from a challenge, they were also both compared to their parents and forced to live in the shadows of their prior actions in the war. It was something neither one of them would ever be able to truly move past from. He sometimes hated being a Malfoy and she sometimes hated being a Weasley. And it was a horrible thing to think so neither one of them had ever actually admitted it aloud until today.

"Guess we have more in common than we thought," she spoke softly.

He avoided looking at her as he nodded. "Yeah."

She saw the uneasiness in his eyes as he found solace in the floor rug. "Well," she said, clearing her throat. "We could always start with each other."

He blinked. "I haven't a clue what that means."

She leaned up against the doorframe, chewing hesitantly on her bottom lip. Scorpius was very aware that he wished it was him tugging at that lip. "I mean," she murmured, "We could be Scorpius and Rose to each other."

He stared at her curiously. "I'm supposed to call you Rose?"

She shrugged. "For starters."

His eyes narrowed skeptically. "Rose sounds weird."

"Gee, thanks."

He chuckled. "I mean it sounds weird coming from me."

"At least my name is normal."

He rolled his eyes. "I'd argue but it's true. I don't know what my parents were thinking when naming me. My mother was probably still hopped up on drugs."

She chuckled. "So what do you say?"

His head cocked to the side as he stared up at her, sensing a slight nervousness in her wavering smile. "Rose, hm?" he muttered, mostly to himself.

She shrugged. "It was just a thought."

"Oh, you actually have those?"

She glared at him. "You're an arse, Scorpius."

He was about to respond but stopped when he realized that might have been the first time ever she said his first name. And oddly enough, he didn't hate it. "I know, Rose."

She looked bemused for a second before a grateful smile spread across her face. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Yes, I really am this good-looking."

She glared at him.

"Er…I mean, go on."

"Do you _want_ to play professional Quidditch?"

He blinked, realizing that they had gone back to the original subject. He frowned hesitantly as he contemplated the question carefully, his forehead wrinkling with uneasiness. "It'd piss my father off, so that's certainly a plus."

She cracked a smile. "That's not what I asked."

He shrugged but said nothing. He didn't know what he wanted to do and didn't think telling her that would provide him with any sort of comfort.

She rolled her eyes at his clear avoidance of the question. "Well, your father's thoughts aside, what does your mother think about all this?"

Scorpius pretended that it didn't hurt to hear his mother referenced. "Well, I have to imagine she has very little opinion on anything I do considering she left when I was twelve and I haven't heard from her since."

Rose felt her cheeks heat up with embarrassment for mentioning it. "Oh, I…I didn't know."

"Of course not. No one knows," he said with a curt shrug. "Except Al."

"I'm sorry."

He shrugged, suddenly wondering why he even bothered to tell her. He hadn't told anyone about his mother so telling the girl he had a very troubled relationship with was not only unexpected but a little bizarre. It should have made him feel uneasy but it didn't. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt but it didn't bother him so that had to count for something.

"Don't be," he eventually muttered, letting out a sigh as he lifted his gaze towards the ceiling while thoughts of his overbearing father and absent mother danced around in his mind. Another sigh followed as he blurted out, "Merlin, I really am fucked up, aren't I?"

She hesitated before shaking her head. "No, you're human, Scorpius."

He snorted. "It's human to have a shite family?"

"It's human feeling hurt because that family isn't acting like the family you deserve."

Scorpius' heart tightened. He pretended it didn't. "I'm not hurt."

She rolled her eyes. "It's okay to be."

He shrugged. "I'm fine."

They both knew he wasn't, but she dropped the subject as she glanced at him curiously. "Can I ask you something else?"

"Haven't you asked enough?"

She rolled her eyes. "Do you know what you want to do after graduation?"

Meeting her gaze, he said nothing at first. Looking at her and sensing true curiosity, he eventually shook his head. "No," he sighed. "But you don't know either, do you."

The very thought that graduation was looming and she had absolutely no clue what she wanted to do was a fear she hadn't shared with anyone. Until now. "No," she whispered. "I don't."

He let out a heavy sigh, dropping the back of his head against his pillow as he let his eyes lift towards the cracks on the ceiling. "Your Head Boy and Girl, ladies and gentlemen," he said with a hint of a smirk.

She made a face before letting out a light laugh. "You know what's funny?" she said with a shake of the head. "We _are_ Head Boy and Head Girl. Which means we could probably do anything we wanted to."

"Yeah, if only we knew what that was," he murmured.

She sighed before nodding. "We're running out of time to figure it out."

"I miss those days where we had all the time in the world."

"Me, too," she whispered as she met his gaze. He said nothing but he didn't have to. It was as if it didn't matter that Rose was tired of living in her family's shadows and Scorpius felt resentment towards his father for the pressure he put on him or the fact that neither one of them knew what they wanted to do, only that they wanted to make the decision on their own.

All that mattered was that they were in it together.

* * *

 **Wednesday, October 28** **th** **, 12:10 PM  
** **Head Dorm**

Any other time, Scorpius probably would have invited Rose into his bed and Rose would have gone willingly, but the serious subject matter in which they both just discussed seemed unworthy of a booty call so Rose said her goodbyes and Scorpius returned to his novel.

She found herself smiling as she descended the stairs, surprised and yet somewhat satisfied with the rather unexpected conversation she just shared with him.

"What the hell was that?"

Rose jumped, letting out a short cry as she whirled around to where Albus sat lounging on their common room couch. "Bloody hell, Al, you scared the shit out of me," she scowled. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to make sure Scorpius was okay since he had missed classes this morning," he drawled. "Apparently I wasn't the only one checking on him."

She frowned. "It's not like I went out of my way to check on him. I do live here."

"When have you ever cared enough about him to want to check on him?"

"He's Head Boy and supposed to be setting an example!" she scoffed. "I only went knocking on his door to tell him what a poor role model he is turning out to be."

"Funny, that is not even close to being the conversation you two just had."

Rose froze. "You were eavesdropping?"

He didn't deny it. "I've been the guy's mate for six years and he has never _once_ spoken to me about his father or his mother. I've picked up on things. I've learned how it is for him. I know him better than he thinks. But he doesn't talk about his family with me. With anyone. Yet here he is talking to you rather willingly about his shithead father and his abandoning mother."

"Maybe because you never had the decency to ask," she snapped.

His eyes widened angrily. "Is that a dig towards my friendship with Scorpius or with you?"

" _What_?"

"Were you ever going to mention to me that you hate being a Weasley?"

"I don't hate being a Weasley!"

"Sounds like you do."

She frowned hesitantly, slight guilt settling into her stomach as she saw the slight betrayal in her cousin's eyes. "Are you telling me there are some days you wish you weren't Harry Potter's son?"

His lips pursed. "No, not really," he scoffed. "Sure, there are moments that being the son of the most famous wizard in the wizarding world, the guy that even makes that world possible today, can be unnerving. But those moments are fleeting. He's still my father and I love him. And I love our family as crazy and dysfunctional as they are. I've never once wanted to be anyone else. But I'm glad to know where we all stand with you."

"That's not how I meant it," she pleaded, but he was already off the couch and heading towards the door. "Al, _stop_."

"I don't really want to hear it, Rose," he sighed, his hand on the doorknob. "But feel free to go cry to your new bestie, Scorpius."

" _Albus_."

He ripped open the door and took off down the hallway before Rose could get in another word. She let out a frustrated groan and fell on to the couch with a sigh.

"What was that about?"

She jumped, glancing over her shoulder where Scorpius stood at the bottom of his stairwell. "Al isn't too pleased with me right now," she muttered. "Actually, he's not terribly pleased with you either."

He blinked. "What did I do?"

"It's more about what you didn't do," she sighed.

He strolled into the common room, coming around the back of the couch to sit beside her. "Which is?"

"Talk to him about your family evidently."

Scorpius frowned. "I don't talk to anyone about my family," he muttered.

Rose hesitated before meeting his gaze. "Except apparently me."

"No, I…" he trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. Frowning, he ran his fingers through his hair. "Oh."

She saw the distress in his eyes at the unexpected realization that he had in fact spoke about personal details of his life, something he wasn't accustomed to. "You'll probably want to talk to Al," she murmured, pulling herself off the couch and heading towards her room.

"Hey, Rose?"

She hesitated, turning around. "You're right. My first name does sound weird coming out of your mouth."

He chuckled. "Well, then maybe we should find other things to do with our mouths."

She rolled her eyes. "Is that all you ever think about?"

"Pretty much, yes."

"You're such a pig."

"A pig who you are hooking up with so what does that say about you?"

"That I was probably dropped on my head a lot as a child."

He laughed, pulling himself off the couch and wandering over to her. "That certainly explains why you struggle to beat me in our classes."

She scowled. "I most definitely do not _struggle_ ," she argued. "You may have me beat in Potions, but I'm far better at Charms than you are."

"And I'm better at Transfiguration than you."

"I'm better at Herbology."

"Like I'm supposed to care about the study of _plants_?"

"For a guy who doesn't know what he wants to do after graduation, you shouldn't disparage any form of study."

"Believe me when I say I have no desire to become a horticulturist."

"Well, at least you can knock one career path off your list."

"Can you stop talking so I can kiss you now?"

She chuckled. "You really should go talk to Al."

He considered her words before shrugging and grabbing her arm, pulling her close to him. "He could probably use some time to cool down."

"Right, like I'm supposed to believe that's the reason you're not currently going after him," she said with a teasing grin, reluctantly stepping into his arms.

"Nah," he murmured, dipping his head down close to her ear. "That would be all thanks to the extremely hot girl in my arms."

Her smile was broken up by him pressing his lips to hers.

* * *

 **Wednesday, October 28** **th** **, 6:00 PM  
** **Great Hall**

Scorpius slipped into the Slytherin table across from Albus that night for dinner.

"Way to make an actual appearance," Albus muttered, the bitterness evident in his tone.

"Rose has informed me that you're apparently mad at me," he said, ignoring the comment.

Albus froze, staring up at him in disbelief. "You're actually calling her _Rose_?"

Scorpius hesitated. "That's the part you focus on?"

Albus tossed his fork on to his plate, leaning back with a scoff. "Okay, you want to tell me what the hell is going on between you and my cousin?"

Right, like Scorpius was about to announce to Albus that they were partaking in very heavy sexual activity. "We work together, mate," he said with a shrug. "It's nothing more than that."

"The conversation I overheard today was not a conversation between coworkers."

Scorpius sighed. "So maybe we aren't at each other's throats like we used to be. But I promise you, we still think very little of one another."

Albus frowned, slowly shaking his head. "I think you're more trying to convince yourself of that than you are trying to convince me."

Scorpius could only roll his eyes. "I don't have to convince myself of anything. I'm already plenty aware of how annoyingly uptight and high-strung she is."

"Watch it," he growled. "That's my cousin you're bad-mouthing."

"I always bad-mouth her."

"And I always tell you to watch it."

Scorpius didn't bother to comment, knowing Albus was looking for a fight. "Look, why don't you just tell me why you're supposedly angry with me so I can apologize and we can move on?"

"I'm not angry with you," he lied.

"Seems like you might be."

Albus shrugged, glancing up at Scorpius with a slightly bitter glint in his eyes. "No," he said. "But I am warning you to stay away from Rose."

Scorpius blinked. "Well, that's going to be difficult considering I work with her."

"You know what I mean."

"I really don't."

Albus glared at him, his eyes filled overprotective caution. "You know what I mean," he repeated coolly. "Pass the potatoes."

Scorpius frowned, not sure he liked the fact that Albus was catching on to the fact that he and Rose could no longer claim that they were only each other's enemies. But it wasn't as he could say anything so all he did was pass Albus the potatoes.

* * *

 **A/N:** Are they, dare I say it, becoming _friends_? I suppose time will tell.


	9. Notch on the Bedpost

**A/N:** I've had a couple of reviews say that Draco isn't as bad as I'm making him out to be based on **The Cursed Child**. But as I mentioned in my first author's note, I wrote this story before **The Cursed Child** came out so there WILL be discrepancies. If you don't like it then feel free not to continue reading.

 **Disclaimer:** I love me some J.K. Rowling but that doesn't mean I'm her.

* * *

 **A Different Kind of Love Story**

Chapter 8: Notch on the Bedpost

By ByeByeBirdie

* * *

 **Wednesday, November 18** **th** **, 6:15 PM  
** **Great Hall**

The whole school started to notice a slow shift between Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy and it all began with the realization that they were calling each other by their first names. And then their disruptive fights faded into weak insults. They were collaborating at prefect meetings and acting civil in the hallways. They weren't friends but it had become obvious that they were no longer enemies either. A month had gone by without so much as an argument breaking out and it was as if everyone was waiting for one of them to screw it up. The only people who seemed content with the new arrangement were Rose and Scorpius themselves.

They spent most of their already limited free time with each other, usually naked. She realized quickly that the best way to alleviate her very stressful year was to forget about the classwork and the upcoming N.E.W.T.s and Quidditch practice and Head duties and future plans by using Scorpius as a distraction. When she was with Scorpius and they were fooling around and having fun, she felt free and unrestricted. She forgot about the pressure and the scrutiny she was under. She could breathe again. She felt satisfied in more ways than one. She had grown to be rather grateful for their arrangement, not that she would ever really admit that to Scorpius.

"I think I might actually miss your fights," Alice spoke on a November evening three weeks later.

"Oh, you do not," Rose snorted with a roll of the eyes.

Alice reached for a biscuit, a curious look in her eyes. "Why won't you tell me what's going on with you two?"

Rose frowned hesitantly as she busied herself with a drink of water. "I'm not sure I understand the question," she lied. "Considering there's nothing going on."

"Of course there is," she sighed. "First, I catch the two of you laughing in detention. Then I notice you two are calling each other by your first names. Suddenly I've become aware that you two no longer argue. It's as if someone is merely impersonating you two under the influence of Polyjuice Potions."

"It's still us," she argued. "We've just come to a mutual agreement that if we are ever going to survive this year, a truce had to be called."

Alice didn't look convinced. "That's it?"

"That's it."

"You're not someone else under Polyjuice Potion?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "No."

"Who was my first kiss?"

Rose's eyes narrowed at her friend. " _What_?"

"Hey, just making sure it's you and not someone else."

Rose let out an exasperated sigh. "My prat of a cousin, James, was your first kiss during a Truth or Dare game."

Alice glanced at her curiously before shrugging. "Alright, I guess it's you," she chuckled.

"I told you."

"It's still weird."

"What is?"

"You and Scorpius!" she exclaimed. "Your fights were epic. They provided a bit of entertainment to this otherwise dull school."

"School is supposed to be dull," Rose said with a shrug. "It's _school_."

"It's _boarding_ school," she corrected. "Which means there's far more to Hogwarts than classwork."

Rose smirked. "And how could you possibly find snogging in broom cupboards dull, Ace?"

"That's not what I was saying!"

Rose could only laugh. "Actually, I'm not sure I've heard you swoon over the male population in quite some time. Are you feeling alright?"

Alice rolled her eyes, busying herself in her shepherd's pie before saying, "No one worth swooning over I suppose."

"We could be attending an all-girls academy and you'd still find someone to swoon over."

" _Rose_!"

She laughed, shrugging. "C'mon, out with it. Who is currently catching your fancy?"

"Why don't we discuss your potential love interests for once?" Alice said, avoiding the question.

Rose felt her heart begin to race, recalling how it felt to have Scorpius' mouth sucking at her clit the night before. "Because I don't have any," she snorted.

"You should," she argued. "You're bloody gorgeous, Rose. I guarantee there are guys drooling over you."

"I'd rather not think about drool over dinner."

Alice giggled. "I bet we have a Hogsmeade visit coming up."

"Second week in December."

"Perfect. That gives you three weeks to find a suitable guy to go on a date with."

"I don't want to go on a date."

"Yes, you do. You just don't know it."

Rose sighed. She had been hooking up with Scorpius for two months and things were actually going well between them. The occasional insult still slipped out at each other out of habit but for the most part, the two of them actually found a way to get along with each other and it had everything to do with spending their time snogging each other so that there wasn't enough time to yell at each other. But considering she couldn't tell Alice that, she simply said, "I'm really not interested, Ace."

"What about Chase Hartley?" she pondered, glancing over at the Ravenclaw table and ignoring Rose's comment completely. "Or Anders Eckhart is always a good choice."

Rose said nothing, letting Alice consider options for her while knowing full well that the only person she would be going into Hogsmeade with was Alice.

* * *

 **Friday, November 20** **th** **, 9:00 PM  
** **Head Dorm**

When Scorpius traipsed into his common room after Quidditch practice, he saw Rose lounging on the couch in an oversized sweatshirt and a stretchy pair of leggings, a novel in her hands. Her auburn hair was thrown into a messy bun on top of her head and like always, she was wearing no makeup. He smiled, thinking for what felt like the thousandth time how he really liked it when she was so casually dressed down. The school was full of over-glitzed, over-styled, over-the-top girls who put too much effort into their appearance and Rose wasn't like that at all. She really didn't care what anyone thought about her and Scorpius actually liked that about her. Not that he would ever admit to anyone that there was something he liked about her.

"Question," Scorpius said as he dropped on to the couch opposite her. "Do you own other clothes besides sweats and your uniform?"

She glanced over the top of her novel. "I own underwear," she smirked.

He hesitated. "Now that you can get rid of."

She chuckled, shaking her head at him. "Has anyone ever told you how perverted you are?"

"Pretty much everyone that meets me."

She laughed again before glancing back down at her novel.

"So is this what you do on a Friday night?" he asked, nudging her with his foot. "Lounge around in your sweats and read?"

"What else am I supposed to do?" she asked curiously. "I know the Slytherin House always rocks a party but personally, I much prefer the solitude than those drunken debacles."

"They're not always drunken debacles."

She looked at him skeptically.

"Yeah, okay, that's a lie," he chuckled. "Unless they've changed in the past couple of weeks into low-key teaparties or something."

Rose snorted. "Something tells me they haven't," she argued, shaking her head. Hesitating, she added, "You haven't been to one of those parties in a while?"

He shook his head. "It's the same shit over and over again. People spend the whole night flipflopping between gossiping and snogging. I have no interest in the first one and my interest in the second one is sitting opposite me in sweats."

She rolled her eyes, but a chuckle escaped to showcase her slight gratitude. "Why do you keep focusing on my sweats?"

"Well, I'd prefer to focus on your underwear but I'm still holding out hope that you're not wearing any."

She chucked a throw pillow at him, smirking as he responded with a laugh. "Once again I must remind you that you are-"

"A pervert?" he teased, tossing the throw pillow right back at her. "And what does that say about you since you're the one snogging that pervert?"

"That I really need to reconsider my sanity."

He chuckled, reaching over and grabbing the novel out of her hands. She protested but he ignored her, tossing it on to the coffee table beside them. "You're looking pretty sane to me right now," he argued as he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him.

"You'll say just about anything for a snog, won't you?" she smirked as she leaned into his outstretched legs.

He hesitated before shrugging. "Something tells me I didn't actually have to say anything," he argued.

Her eyebrow shot up. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, you're down here reading your novel instead of up in your room and you knew I had Quidditch practice tonight so you knew I'd be traipsing through here around this time."

She hesitated before shrugging. "I could argue with you but we'd both know it'd be a lie so fine, I've had a long week and could really blow off some steam tonight," she said as she leaned over and pressed her lips hastily to his.

He was more than happy to respond, leaning into her as their lips tangled together. "I love it when you need to blow off steam," he teased between kisses, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her into him.

She rolled her eyes and could have once again commented how perverted he was, but she just decided to kiss him instead.

They both went to bed happy that night.

* * *

 **Wednesday, November 25t** **h** **, 6:30 PM  
** **Gryffindor common room**

"Albus is on board with finding you a date."

Rose glanced up from her textbook, her eyes narrowing at Alice who was painting her nails beside her on the Gryffindor common room couch. It was rare for Rose to be in the Gryffindor Tower now that she had her own room but Alice would occasionally drag her there. "I don't believe that for a second."

"Well, believe it, because when I mentioned we were putting Operation Land Rose a Guy into action, he said no Hufflepuffs."

Rose hesitated. "Why no Hufflepuffs?"

"According to him, they suck at Quidditch which means they're not worthy enough to date you."

"I'm surprised he thinks anyone is worthy enough to date me," she drawled. "He hates it when a guy so much as looks at me. Or any of us Weasley women for that matter."

"Hm, then I wonder how he'd feel if he found out Lily is dating Westin Taylor."

Rose's eyes widened. "Lily _Potter_?"

"As opposed to…?"

"She can't date Wes! He's too old for her!"

"He's only two years older."

"Like I said, _too old for her_!"

"Seems like Al isn't the only Weasley-Potter overprotective of their family members."

Rose scowled. "We look out for each other," she said. "Oh, I certainly hope Al doesn't find out about this anytime soon or he probably would pummel Wes into the ground and we kinda need him for our match against Ravenclaw."

"That game is two months away."

"Yes, but Al would leave Wes for dead and I'm unsure what the policy is for ghosts playing Quidditch."

Alice laughed. "Well, if you want Wes alive for that game, you might want to consider telling Lily to be more discreet," she said, nodding to where the younger redhead sat snuggled up against the seventh year.

Rose was off the couch almost immediately, strolling over to the pair. "What do you two think you're doing?"

Lily jumped, glancing up at her cousin. "Er…sitting?"

Rose scowled. "When Al finds out about this, he's going to be blow a fuse."

Lily smirked, her eyebrow slowly seeping into her forehead. "No more than the fuse he'll blow when he finds out about you and Scorpius."

Rose froze, her mind growing numb at Lily's blunt words. "What…what the hell are you talking about? Nothing's going on between me and Scorpius."

She smirked, slowly sitting up and facing her. "Then tell me, what were you two doing in the third floor storage closet yesterday between classes? Or what reason would there be for him to be hanging out in your bedroom for nearly two hours last night?"

Rose's face turned pink. "I don't know what you're talking about," she lied.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Do you really think James was going to pass down the Marauders Map to his brother? James and Al hate each other."

She blinked. "James gave you the Map?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

Lily grinned triumphantly. "So it's true then? You're actually dating Sc-"

"No," Rose was quick to argue, glancing over at the rather silent Wes.

"I won't say anything," Wes said reassuringly. "Lily already told me she'd hex my balls off if I spilled your little secret and I don't think she was lying."

"I'm not dating him," Rose said again, shaking her head.

Lily frowned. "Then what are you doing with him?"

Rose said nothing because she wasn't entirely sure of the answer herself.

"You might want to figure it out before Al finds out something is going on or he'll skin you both alive," Lily said.

"Nothing is going on," Rose muttered.

Lily hesitated before saying, "Yeah, and how long will that last?"

* * *

 **Wednesday, November 25** **th** **, 10:00 PM  
** **Gryffindor common room**

Rose nodded her acknowledgement at Scorpius that night where he sat surrounded by textbooks on the couch, but instead of sticking around like she normally would, she ascended her stairwell to her bedroom. Dropping her books on to her desk, she flopped down on her bed with a frustrated sigh. She hadn't been able to get Lily's words out of her head all night and it unnerved her. Rose already felt unsettled at the idea that Lily knew Rose was hooking up with Scorpius. She felt even more unsettled knowing that Wes knew as well. But she could see the doubt and skepticism in Lily's eyes when Rose claimed nothing was going on and it only added doubt and skepticism in Rose's mind about the whole ordeal. Rose was crazy to think that their arrangement wouldn't one day come crashing down around them. Someone was going to find out or one of them was going to expect something more from the other or Rose would stop listening to her head and let Scorpius take her virginity or they'd both just one day wake up and realize how insane they were. Things were going rather well between them, but that's what scared Rose the most. Things weren't supposed to go well between her and Scorpius Malfoy. When did that change?

She wasn't surprised when she heard a knock on her door. Without bothering to wait for her to invite him in, the door creaked open and he peeked his head in.

"Y'know, the whole point of knocking is to request permission to be let in," she drawled, turning on her side to face him.

"Yeah, but when was politeness a quality I possessed?" he smirked.

She rolled her eyes. "Have you always been a jackass, Malfoy?"

His eyes narrowed at the slight frustration in her voice. "I have to be," he argued coolly.

She blinked in surprise, his answer one she was not expecting. "You have to be?" she repeated.

He shrugged, shutting the door behind him and making his way over to the bed. "Yes," he said. "I have to be."

She rolled her eyes. "Care to elaborate?"

He frowned, perching on the end of her bed hesitantly. He didn't know what possessed him to tell her he had to be a jackass. He could have just laughed it off. Then again, he had promised her a few weeks earlier that he'd always be honest with her and he was trying to uphold that promise. "You don't get to be the son of a Death Eater without people talking," he murmured, falling back against her bed with a sigh. "The only way to combat that is with retaliation."

She stared at him in slight bewilderment, her eyes growing with curiosity when she noticed him actively avoiding eye contact with her. He only did that when he felt embarrassed about something. Otherwise, he had no problem staring her down as his ultimate way of challenging her. She had figured out at a young age that he never backed down from a fight. He was always desperate to get in the last word. He always had to be right and he always had to win. Anything less than that was unacceptable to him. It had been a constant source of frustration to her that he couldn't ever walk away without getting the final dig in, but after their conversation regarding their upbringings, she suddenly knew in that moment that he acted like a jackass as a way of not admitting that deep down inside, he was anything but.

"Or, and here's a novel concept, you could prove all of that outlandish gossip wrong by being nice," she smirked.

Scorpius frowned, following a particular crack on the high ceiling. "So you think it's outlandish, hm?"

Rose watched the crease on his forehead grow into curious hesitance. "I think…" she trailed off with her own frown. "I think we don't get to choose who our parents are. But that doesn't mean they get to choose who we get to be."

His eyes followed the crack of the ceiling towards the edge of the wall before glancing towards her. "Are you always this profound so late at night?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not trying to be profound," she argued. "I've just seen glimpses of a decent guy underneath all that jackass and I think you'd be surprised to find that people might actually respect that guy more."

"I don't need anyone's respect, Rose. I am who I am and if people don't like it, that's on them."

She sighed. "I never said you needed anyone's respect. But wouldn't it be nice to get it anyway?"

"Like you're one to talk," he drawled with a slight irritability in his tone. "The only reason people supposedly respect you is because of your hero and heroine parents."

A thick silence coated the room as Rose sat up swiftly in bed, her expression growing with incredulity. Just when she was starting to think he wasn't as bad as she always thought. "And now it's officially that time of the night I like to call _get the hell out of my room_.," she snapped, her eyes blazing with rage.

Scorpius' lips pursed as he turned on his side to face her. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for," he murmured.

Rose blinked once. And then again. And then a few more times. "Did…did you just _apologize_ to me?"

He nodded slowly, a flicker of guilt passing through his eyes. "Yes, because what I said was uncalled for," he admitted sincerely. "And it wasn't even true. That whole being nice thing worked out in your favor because people do respect you. They look at you and see a girl who deserves the Head post. They look at me and wonder how much money my father bribed McGonagall with."

She sighed, shooting him an impatient look. "You're not allowed to play some woe-is-me card when you're the one who made the decision a while back not to be nice."

"Oh, no, I think we can all thank my almost-murderer father for that."

"And look what we have here: more of that woe-is-me card."

Scorpius found himself laughing as he lifted himself off the bed and sat crosslegged across from her. "I perfected the art of jackassism many years ago. It would be wrong to try and change that now when so many people are used to it. I'd hate to distract the student body away from their studies."

"How positively selfless of you," she said with a suppressed smirk. "I bow down to the master of so-called jackassism."

"Smart girl," he teased, winking at her.

She met his gaze with a grin. "So you think I'm smart, hm?"

He shrugged. "Well, you didn't get Head Girl by slacking off."

"Good thing I did or our times together would be limited to closets."

He let out a loud laugh before crawling over to where she sat at the head of the bed. "Having our own dorm certainly does have its advantages," he smirked, reaching over and pulling the hairtie out of Rose's hair.

She smiled as her hair fell down the curve of her back. "Yes, like uninterrupted time to study."

He scoffed, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards him. "Not exactly what I was referring to," he argued before going in for a kiss. It was a gentle kiss, one filled with comfort and hope and not their usual intensity. His hands instinctively made their way into her hair like they often did, his lips only lightly caressing hers. She felt her heart unexpectedly begin to race, something so quietly intimate about the simple kiss.

Lily's words came back to her and instead of acknowledging them, Rose moved her body on to his and straddled him without breaking her lips from his. His mouth opened slightly and she let her tongue swirl against his. He tasted like mint and chocolate and she found it sexy and alluring. She moved her hands so they were framing his face, letting out a low growl as he playfully tugged at the end of her hair. He broke the kiss for just a brief moment only to tug Rose's sweater over her head. His lips crashed against hers once more, this time much more fervent as he pushed his pelvis up against her with a low growl.

"Merlin, how many lacy bras do you own?" he said, his hand reaching up to cup her right breast.

"Wouldn't you like to find out?" she teased, reaching back and unclasping it, letting it fall to the side of the bed.

"Nah, I'm much more inclined to finding out what's underneath those lacy bras," he smirked, lifting himself off the pillow and letting his tongue circle her nipple.

She felt the heat rising in her stomach as a low moan fell from her lips. "I'm pretty sure you already know what's underneath," she whispered and before he could respond she tugged on his hair and pressed her lips against his. His hands went to her waist as their lips danced hungrily against one another's and all he wanted was to get all of her clothes off and kiss her all over until neither had anything more to give.

He lived for these stolen moments with her, letting the rest of the world escape from his mind as he focused on every curve of her body. There was something so timid and intimate about their shared times together, knowing that the rest of the school was off doing Merlin knows what while he was getting Rose Weasley naked. He loved every minute of it, finding himself so unexpectedly attracted to the gorgeous redhead. He had always known she was good-looking and had always liked the fact that she never saw that within herself, but he never once thought he'd be in her bed with so many naughty thoughts running through his mind. And now he couldn't stop the naughty thoughts no matter how hard he tried.

The fact that she refused to sleep with him was an unexpected turn-on because now he just spent all of his time imagining her riding him. He imagined her screams. He imagined her breasts bouncing. He imagined her panting. He imagined her fingernails raking his back. He wanted her so fucking badly it consumed his every thought.

Which ultimately confused him. It was obvious how insatiable Rose could be but he should be able to walk away from her without giving her a second thought. It's what he's done with all the girls prior to her. They were supposed to be something to feed his momentary appetite. Someone to have fun with and someone to ignore only moments later. Every time he walked out of Rose's room, he should have let that be it. But he couldn't get enough of her. Every time he left, he wanted to be back in that room with his mouth on hers and her body pressed up against his.

He pushed all of these thoughts away from him as he tugged off the rest of her clothes and let his tongue raid her moist opening, the whimpers coming from her mouth causing his erection to harden even more. He was unbearably hard and knew that it would only take a few minutes of Rose sucking on him for him to climax. That very thought send a thrill of heat to pool inside his stomach as he swirled his tongue against her throbbing clit. She gripped the bedsheets as he inserted a finger into her. He quickly followed that up with another one and smirked when she said his name.

"Oh, fuckkkk, Malfoy," she whispered breathlessly, her eyes squeezed shut as she felt her entire body tense up with desire.

He lifted his tongue from her clit and removed his fingers from inside of her, causing her eyes to pop open in confusion. "What's my name?" he said coyly.

She blinked, her heart rapidly beating against her ribcage before she said, "Scorpius."

He smiled before driving his fingers back into her, in and out and in and out, watching the pleasure on her face grow with intensity until she couldn't take it anymore. Her body convulsed as she screamed out until her voice went hoarse and her body went limp.

Every time he led her to an orgasm, he felt pleased. There was something so positively sexy about listening to her screaming in ecstasy and knowing that he had been the one to drive her to it. Never before in his life did he think that making someone orgasm was just as good as being the one to orgasm. But Rose brought out a completely different side to him.

She felt exhilarated and exhausted and desperate all rolled into one. He had a way of making her forget everything else going on in her life as she lived in the moment. The attraction between the two of them was uncanny and yet so comfortable. She loved the way she felt when she was with him. Happy and carefree like she didn't have a worry in the world. But the moment he walked out the door – because he always did minutes after their hook-up came to an end – her worries were back and she couldn't deny them. Until he turned up at her door and made her forget again.

Well, now it was her turn to make him forget.

She reached down and unbuttoned his jeans, tugging the zipper down, and tossing the jeans aside. She felt a guttural groan in his throat and she smirked, leaning over and pressing a kiss to the nape of his throat as she pulled his boxers off of him. They both lay there naked as Rose squeezed her hand around his stiff cock. He jerked slightly at the touch, knowing there wasn't any way in hell he would be able to last. She removed her hand and replaced it with her mouth, suddenly wondering what it would feel like to have him inside of her.

She shook the thought almost immediately, knowing that she couldn't ever let herself give into that fantasy. The moment she did would be the moment he'd toss her aside for his newest victim and she was rather keen on the freedom that came with their casual arrangement. She'd hate to lose that.

She took the entire length into his mouth, running her tongue up the side of him and watching as his body began to tremble underneath her touch.

" _Rose_ ," he whispered, saying nothing else as all words seemed lost to him while her mouth stroked his cock.

Everything inside of him shook with euphoria as he convulsed with his orgasm, spilling his seed into her mouth and watching as she swallowed it, an unbelievably attractive shy smile perched at the end of her lips. He felt spent, his body numb with pleasure and let out a few light gasps as he tried to catch his breath. Smirking, she collapsed to the side of him, feeling a swirl of energy filling the room that they both seemed to thrive on.

They said nothing, both coming down from their highs, but Rose knew that in a matter of minutes, Scorpius would pick himself off the bed and reach for his clothes, wink at her or say something suggestive, and walk out. She would be left behind to return to the thoughts that had momentarily escaped her for the timebeing – thoughts of her course load and Head duties and the future and Albus and Lily and Wes. But she still had a few minutes to enjoy the ecstasy inside of her before doing so. So she waited.

"Can I ask you something?"

She jumped, glancing to her right and realizing he was still there staring at her. "What is it?"

He hesitated, running his fingers through his hair as he contemplated the best way to ask the question. Realizing that no matter how he asked it, it would come out wrong, he just went for it. "Why don't you want to sleep with me?"

She blinked in surprise, clearly not expecting that question. Which was understandable, considering he hadn't really been expecting to ask it. But it had been gnawing at him for quite some time. Hooking up with Rose was one of the greater thrills in his recent life. She was incredibly fit, the things she could do with her tongue was an immense turn-on, she was the best kisser he had ever been with, and she definitely knew her way around a mean blow job. Scorpius heard the sounds she made every time he fingered her or sucked on her clit so she couldn't deny that she wasn't enjoying the clandestine hook-ups as much as he was. It had once infuriated him that she refused to have sex with him, but he was no longer infuriated. He was just confused and curious.

She tore her eyes off of him, glancing ahead of her with a hesitant expression. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't had moments of weakness where the idea of sleeping with him had its appeal. But that's all they were: moments of weakness. She respected herself too much to lose her virginity to a guy who didn't understand the emotional value of sex.

Avoiding looking at him, she said, "Who says I don't?"

He snorted. "Uh, _you_ , every time you stop us from letting it get that far."

Her eyes turned pensive as she struggled to find her next words. "That doesn't mean I don't want to sleep with you," she spoke softly. "It just means I won't."

He frowned. That only made him more confused. "Why not?" he asked softly.

Growing quiet once again, she said nothing at first. She couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth, not willing to deal with any mocking she was sure he would provide her. So she simply sighed and said, "I've already told you, Scorpius. I refuse to be like every other girl you've gone after."

He sighed. "Have I given you any reason to believe that you're like every other girl?"

"You mean besides the fact that it's you?"

He frowned, laying back against the bed as he glanced up towards the ceiling. She was hiding something, he could tell. He just didn't know what. "Never mind," he muttered, shaking his head.

She snuck a peek towards him out of the corner of her eye, recognizing the slight irritation in his voice. She frowned hesitantly, suddenly feeling guilty about keeping something from him. Which confused her because she had never felt guilty about anything when it came to Scorpius. But she supposed that hooking up with someone on a regular basis made you closer to them even if you didn't want to admit it. She felt as if she owed him the truth. She didn't know why, but she didn't give herself the time to ask herself.

"You really want to know?" she asked, her voice strained with hesitation.

Something about the tenderness in her voice had his frustration giving way into genuine curiosity. Glancing towards her, he met her gaze once again. "Yeah, I do."

"You can't make fun of me."

He blinked. "Er…I won't."

"I mean it," she urged. "Because I know you'll be inclined to do so and if you follow through, I _will_ hex your balls off."

"I won't make fun of you!"

"If you so much as let one laugh out, this arrangement of ours will be officially-"

" _Rose_ ," he said, reaching over and squeezing her arm. "Just tell me."

She felt her heart racing wildly against her ribcage, so loud and hard she was certain he could hear it. Slowly, she twisted her body on to its side and faced him, suddenly very aware of how naked the two of them were. She felt a shiver run down her spine at the way he was looking at her, with appreciation and concern. And that look was what finally had her admitting the truth. "I've never had sex before."

He blinked. " _What_?"

She shrugged but said nothing.

"You're a…"

"Virgin," she murmured, quickly turning away from him. "Yeah. And I'm not about to let my first time be just another notch on your bedpost."

He frowned. He stopped himself from saying she wouldn't be just another notch on his bedpost, knowing he couldn't be sure if that were true or not. And he had promised her he wouldn't lie to her anymore. He hesitated, realizing that as he considered telling her she wasn't another notch on his bedpost, he found himself meaning it or at least wanting to mean it.

Ignoring that very thought, he let the shock of her confession settle into his confused mind as he said, "Now why would you think I'd make fun of that?"

"Because I'm pretty sure you lost yours four years ago to a sixth year behind the greenhouses who batted her eyelashes at you. But not everyone just gives it up the first chance they get."

Scorpius found himself smiling awkwardly at the memory. "That's unfortunately a fair argument."

She glanced over at him and was surprised to see a wistful smile on his face, his gaze pulled towards the ceiling nostalgically.

"You didn't have to hide it, Rose," he spoke hesitantly, his gaze still turned away from her. "I would have understood."

She frowned at the unexpected comment. "I know that now," she pointed out with a mere shrug. "But a few months ago, I would have bet money that you'd laugh in my face and call me Virgin Mary in public just to humiliate me."

The words cut through his heart shamefully because honestly, he couldn't say that he wouldn't have done that had she told him when they first started fooling around. And that thought alone sent a jolt of surprise though his hesitant mind. Because it was clear so much had changed between them. It had happened slowly over time and so unexpectedly that he hadn't fully realized how much he no longer hated being in Rose's presence. Her voice didn't make his blood boil. Her flared nostrils didn't have him wanting to hex her. Her narrowed eyes didn't have him longing to taunt her. She was no longer Weasley to him. She was just Rose.

"Yeah, I suppose I can't blame you for thinking that," he murmured regretfully. "I was pretty awful to you for six years."

He still wouldn't look at her and she couldn't help but feel bad for making him feel guilty. "It wasn't like I was a saint to you," she reminded him.

Scorpius shrugged. "Looks like our arrangement really has paid off," he pointed out, finally turning and looking at her.

She slowly turned towards him and offered him a curt nod. "Looks that way, doesn't it," she agreed with a slight smile.

He smiled back, finding himself oddly comfortable being there by her side in her bed. She said nothing more and neither did he. He wasn't sure what else there was to say, though there was one question burning in his mind…

"So," he said, clearing his throat anxiously. "You never slept with Zee?"

He saw the flicker of surprise in her eyes quickly turn to regret. "No," she whispered, shaking her head. "I actually thought he was one of the good guys, not pressuring me into doing anything I wasn't ready for. Turns out, he wasn't pressuring me because he was getting enough of it from Amanda fucking Gray."

Scorpius watched the heartbreak sink quickly into her expression and felt the unexpected urge to punch Cameron Zee in the face. He felt unexpected anger towards him for hurting her so dismissively and he felt sympathy towards a girl who never deserved to be hurt. Just one look at her and he could see how broken she really was even though all she had ever tried to do was hide it. He would know seeing as he had been there the night Cameron stomped all over her heart. She had said and done nothing. She just took off and the next day she had a smile on her face as if everything was okay. Scorpius hadn't understood it at the time but looking back, things suddenly became clear to him. It wasn't that she hadn't been heartbroken. She had been heartbroken but just didn't want the world to see. And he had gotten to know her a bit more since that time to realize that often what she showed on her face wasn't what she felt in his heart.

And then suddenly, it all made sense. Why she was hooking up with him. Why she said from the beginning that feelings wouldn't be involved. Why she wasn't interested in a relationship. She had let her feelings get involved Cameron. She had loved him. She had trusted him. And he turned around and shattered her heart as if she meant nothing to him. And to this day, her heart wasn't healed. The various pieces of her heart hurt too much for her to even consider giving them to someone else. And as it happened, fooling around with him gave her all the benefits without any of the risks.

He didn't know what to say or do so he simply leaned over and pressed his lips to hers, surprising both of them. When he pulled away, he saw the bewilderment in her eyes and whispered, "Cameron Zee is a fucking idiot."

She pulled away from him with a frown. She said nothing at first before finding the truth blurting out. "No, it's just the story of my life."

Scorpius blinked in surprise. "What?"

She felt unexpected tears prickling the side of her eyes, wondering how she could have been so incredibly happy only moments earlier and now she felt nothing but utter defeat. It had hurt when Cameron had broken her heart but the worst about it was that it hadn't been unexpected. She was used to not being good enough and ultimately letting people down. It really was the story of her life.

Her heart twinged with angst, her stomach bubbled with despair, and a shiver ran down her spine as the truth of the past seventeen years filled her mind with dejection. Thoughts of trying to live up to her parents' legacy. Thoughts of trying to find her place with the Weasley clan. Thoughts of the world expecting a lot from her because of her last name. Thoughts of professors assuming she'll be another Hermione. Thoughts of guys only pretending to be interested because she was the daughter of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Everything she ever did was on display for the world to judge her. And she hated every minute of it. She hated how people always made assumptions of her and then were disappointed when she didn't live up to them. She hated the pressure. She hated the expectations. She just wanted to be able to live her life without everyone reading her every move.

"Do you ever sometimes feel as if no matter what you do, you'll never be good enough?" she whispered.

The words made his heart grow numb. "Is that how you feel?"

She said nothing but that pretty much answered the question.

"Because of Cameron?"

He was only the icing on the cake. "No," she admitted, shaking her head. "Because I'm a Weasley."

He blinked in surprise, sensing a burden in her voice he had never witnessed before. And he realized that he didn't need her to explain what she meant by that because he knew exactly what she was referring to. Living up to the expectations a world has set on her because of her parents' and family's legacy was a lot of pressure. He knew all too well what it was like to be expected to live up to impossible standards. He thought of his father who only saw him as someone who can pass on the Malfoy legacy. He thought of his mother who left him. He thought of his grandfather who believed in outdated ideals. He thought of the entire world judging him for being associated with a family of Death Eaters. He thought of the girls who only wanted him because he was considered dangerous. Nothing he ever did would matter to anyone but him. He had long learned to accept that. But it didn't mean he liked it.

Rose had the opposite problem. Everything she did was in scrutiny because her parents helped save the world. Everything she did seemed to matter to everyone but her. And there were far too many ideals to live up to that she felt lost and broken, too afraid to just be herself when the world expected her to be a particular someone. A particular someone she was afraid she'd never be.

He circled his arm around her head and squeezed her opposite shoulder, drawing her into him. She stiffened at the unexpected gesture but slowly let her head rest against his shoulder. "No. You're not a Weasley," Scorpius eventually said with a soft shake of the head as he pressed a soft kiss against her temple. "You're just Rose."

Rose was certain that no words ever meant more to her than those.

"And for the record," he whispered as the ache in his heart started to evaporate and suddenly things made so much more sense to him, "You're not just another notch on my bedpost. I wouldn't keep coming back if that was all it was.""

She glanced up at him with gratitude in her eyes. It was nice to know that she wasn't the only one who believed that something had changed with them. They weren't friends but they were no longer enemies. "I know."

It was the first time that Scorpius didn't immediately gather his clothes and walk out. It was the first time he held her in his arms. It was the first time he spent the night.

It was the first time they both realized that maybe their arrangement meant more than they initially thought.

Not that either would admit it out loud.

* * *

 **Saturday, November 28** **th** **, 4:30 PM  
** **Courtyard**

"Well, if it isn't Scorpius Malfoy."

Scorpius jumped, glancing over to the sound of the voice. "Mini-Potter," he greeted where Lily sat by herself on the courtyard bench with a _Witch Weekly_ in her hands.

"The name is Lily," she drawled.

He shrugged.

"Did you know that apparently my father is sleeping with the entire _Daily Prophet_ staff right underneath my mother's nose?" she smirked, nodding towards the magazine's headlines.

"Yeah, and last I heard, your brother eloped with Minister Shacklebolt's stepson. I wasn't aware your brother was gay considering all the tail he chased here at Hogwarts."

She made a face. "I really don't need to think about my brother _catching tail_."

"Yet you're okay with thinking about your father sleeping his way around the _Daily Prophet_ office?"

"It's better than thinking about you sleeping with my cousin."

Scorpius liked to think he was rather unflappable but that comment struck panic in his expression. " _What_?"

She smirked, enjoying the guilt in the single word. "You heard me."

"I…I don't know what you're talking-"

"Cut the crap, Malfoy," she spoke, tossing the magazine aside and pulling herself off the bench. "I don't really give a shit what you and Rose are up to but I am warning you right now to be careful with her. She may come off as tough and resilient but ever since Cameron fucking Zee broke her heart, she's not nearly as tough as she may seem."

Scorpius neglected to point out that he had picked up on Rose's insecurities and vulnerabilities without even trying to. He had always considered Rose Weasley as a confident opponent but when he got to know her, he realized that she was as fragile as they came. She put on a smile and pretended to be happy but he knew she was far from it. She acted as if stress didn't bother her but he saw overwhelmed panic in her eyes every time he snuck a peek. He always said she was uptight but she only came off that way because she tried too hard to be perfect for everyone else. He knew all too well what it was like to be living the life everyone expected of you that you forgot to live it for yourself.

"I'm pretty sure your cousin can take care of herself," Scorpius pointed out.

Lily's eyes narrowed slightly. "You better hope so because if you do anything to hurt her, you've got about twenty-five Weasleys and Potters you'll have to answer to."

"I'll keep that in mind," he drawled.

Lily shrugged. "Always a pleasure chatting with you," she said irritably, swiping the magazine off the bench and wandering back inside the castle.

Scorpius snorted. "Can't say I feel the same," he muttered to himself.

* * *

 **Saturday, November 28** **th** **, 5:30 PM  
** **Head Dorm**

Rose was in the shower after a rather excruciating Quidditch practice when she heard pounding on her bathroom door. She jumped as she heard Scorpius' voice cry out, "I have a bone to pick with you, Rose Weasley!"

Rose let out a strangled cry when the door thrust open and in walked Scorpius. "Bloody hell, Scorpius, you scared the shit out of me!" she cried out, suddenly feeling self-conscious behind the glass wall as she hugged her body to hide herself from him

He smirked as he watched her turn her back on him. "It's nothing I haven't seen before."

She rolled her eyes. "Get out, Scorpius."

He shook his head. "Not until you tell me what the hell you were thinking telling Lily Potter about our _arrangement_."

Rose looked at him in disbelief before realizing what he was referring to. "Oh, I never told her anything," she sighed, shutting off the water and opening the shower door to reach for her towel. Wrapping it around her, she said, "She found out by herself."

" _How_?" he growled. "Because I gotta say, I don't recall her walking in on us. Something tells me I would have remembered something like that."

She frowned, shifting her gaze over his shoulder hesitantly, her lips pursed together as her right eyebrow twitched. Scorpius knew she was about to lie to him. "Someone else told her."

Bingo. His fists clenched irritably. "Has anyone ever told you that you have a tell when lying?"

"What?"

"You have a poker tell every time you lie. Something you do that gives you away."

She scowled. "Well, what is it?"

He smirked. "And why would I tell you that? Then you'd stop doing it and I wouldn't be able to call you out on it anymore."

She glowered at him. "Maybe it's disturbing that you know I have one at all."

He shrugged, though he couldn't help but agree. "What happened to not lying, Weasley?"

"What happened to not calling each other by our last names, _Malfoy_?"

He rolled his eyes. "Are you going to tell me how the hell Lily found out or not?"

"I didn't ask her to find out," she said with a shrug. "She just did. And believe me when I say she won't be telling anyone."

"I should hope not," he scoffed. "I do not need my reputation tainted by the entire school knowing I stooped to the likes of you."

She glared at him. "We can stop at anytime, Scorpius."

Right, like he was going to stop letting her give him some of the best blow jobs he's ever gotten.

With his lips pursed, he slowly let his eyes travel down the length of her body. "Or I can help you finish that shower of yours," he said with a smirk, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards him.

She swatted at his chest with her usual roll of the eyes. "I have a mountain of schoolwork calling out my name, Scorpius."

"It'll still be there in an hour," he whispered as he hastily pressed his lips to hers before she could stop him.

Despite her head telling her to say no, she kissed him back. "If I fail my classes, I'll kill you," she murmured, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her body up against his.

"You could never fail," he whispered between kisses. "Now how about you lose that towel?"

Her head fell back as she laughed, instinctively fingering the bottom of his shirt and tearing it over his head. "Two and a half months ago you asked me to do the same thing and I said no," she reminded him, pressing a kiss to his neck underneath his right ear.

He crashed his lips against hers fiercely, wanting and needing to taste her. Pulling back for only a second, he said, "Two and a half months later, there's not a chance in hell you'll say no."

Stepping out of his grasp, she smirked before unraveling the towel and letting it drop to her feet. "I guess a lot can change in two and a half months," she whispered, winking at him as she turned around and headed into the shower stall. "Now how about you strip off the rest of your clothes and join me before I have to start without you."

His eyes bulged at the very idea. "Now _there's_ an idea."

She only laughed as she turned the knob and let the stream of water cascade down her front. "Get your ass in here, Scorpius."

He smirked as he hastily stripped off his slacks and boxers before climbing in behind her. Letting his lips trail against her shoulder blade, he whispered, "Whatever you say, Rose Weasley."

* * *

 **A/N:** Please review!


	10. Reclaim the Fun

**A/N:** Yes, I've been bad because it's been far too long since I've updated. But I wanted to give you all an early Christmas present so Happy Holidays!

 **Disclaimer:** I don't even look like J.K. Rowling so I could hardly be mistaken as her.

* * *

 **A Different Kind Of Love Story**

By ByeByeBirdie

Chapter 9: Reclaim The Fun

* * *

 **Sunday, November 29** **th** **, 9:30 AM  
Great Hall**

Rose had never hooked up with anyone in the shower before and she couldn't get it out of her mind. Every time she tried to think of something else, she couldn't get the sensuality of it out of her mind and a smile would inevitably creep on to her face. It was weird to think that she and Scorpius were growing closer together and yet it felt right. Their lack of bickering lifted a weight in her heart she hadn't known was there. For years, it was as if she was expecting him to be around every corner ready to taunt her and she walked around stiff in anticipation because of it. Now she didn't hate seeing him or talking to him.

Especially seeing him in the shower.

"Haydn Thomas," Alice said, sliding into the Great Hall opposite Rose.

Rose glanced up from her plate, a blush creeping on to her cheeks as she pushed away the naughty thoughts in her mind. "Er…what about him?"

"Al and I agreed he's a decent bloke," she said with a shrug. "And word around school is he's interested in you."

All Rose could think about was her naked body pressed up against Scorpius' in the shower. "You and Al are talking about my dating prospects together?" she drawled.

"He said he needed to approve."

Rose rolled her eyes. "He most certainly does not. I can date whoever the hell I want to."

Alice shrugged. "So? What are your thoughts on Haydn?"

Rose sighed. "He's okay I guess."

"He's _okay_?" she groaned. "That's all you have to say?"

"I grew up with him, Ace," she pointed out. "I have never seen him as anything more than a family friend."

"I think you'll realize you could see him as something more if actually try."

She switched gears. "I am too busy to date anyone," she was quick to argue, trying to act as if that really was the truth. "Between N.E.W.T.s coming up and my Head duties and Quidditch practice, I'm just looking to get through my last year without any distractions."

Alice frowned hesitantly. "And when do you plan to have any fun?"

 _That's what I have Scorpius for._ But of course she didn't say that. "When I'm no longer in school?" she said with a teasing grin.

"I'm serious, Rose," she sighed. "I never see you anymore. And when I do, you either have your head in a book or you're finishing up prefect paperwork. You are already the hardest worker I know. You are going to graduate Hogwarts and go on to be something incredibly awesome because-"

"Any chance you know what that might be?" she said with a sheepish shrug.

Alice's eyebrow shot up. "I thought that was obvious."

Rose's teasing smile slowly faded. "Why is it that because my uncle and cousin are prominent in the Auror Department that everyone automatically assumes that's where I'll go?"

"Who says I was talking about the Auror field?"

"You were."

Alice shrugged. "Yeah, I was, but I'm not saying you'll be an Auror because that's what your family does. I'm saying you'll be an Auror because you already are one. You're analytical, perceptive, nimble, stealthy, athletic, and you literally aren't afraid of anything. Don't talk yourself out of being an Auror if that's what you want to do just because you're afraid of always being associated with your family."

Rose frowned, glancing at Alice with narrowed eyes at the intensity of her words. "Have you been talking to Al about me?"

She stiffened, a flash of guilt settling into her expression. "What do you mean?"

Rose scowled. "Fuck, you _have_ been talking to Al about me, haven't you?"

"I don't know what-"

"You do know what I'm talking about," she spoke coolly. "And you can tell Al that I _don't_ hate being a Weasley. There are just sometimes I wish I could figure things out for myself without feeling everyone's eyes on me wondering what the daughter of Ron and Hermione Weasley's next move is going to be. Is that so hard to ask?"

Alice offered her a lopsided smile. "You know what your next move should be?"

Rose looked hopeful. "What?"

A sly grin broke out across Alice's face. "You should go on a date with Haydn Thomas."

" _Alice_ ," she groaned.

"Please just think about it," she pleaded.

"If you think he's so great, you go on a date with him."

"Nah, I snogged him a year ago already. Been there, done that. Your turn!"

She searched for another excuse. "I can't go out with him. I wouldn't dare leave you alone to wander the Hogsmeade streets by yourself."

"Don't use me as your excuse to say no," she scoffed. "I'll just walk around with Al or something."

"Al who usually goes with Scorpius?" she muttered with the roll of her eyes. "Wouldn't there be about a million other ways you'd prefer to spend your time?"

"You're the one who supposedly hates Scorpius, not me."

Rose's lips pursed. "I don't _supposedly_ hate him. I _do_ hate him."

What scared her was that she wasn't sure she actually believed that anymore.

Alice shrugged. "Could you at least try and entertain the idea of going into a Hogsmeade with a guy who shows an interest in you? It doesn't have to be Haydn if he's not catching your fancy. Reggie Davies is a good choice now that he's single. Or Jarett Lapicki?"

"Why don't _you_ date any of these so-called worthy guys?"

"Because they're not interested in me," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"And who says they're interested in me?"

"You're the smartest girl in the entire school, you're bloody gorgeous, and your wit and sarcasm surpasses us all. Believe me when I say all guys in this school are interested in you in some way or another."

Rose's cheeks turned a faint shade of pink. "You're exaggerating."

Alice smiled, shaking her head. "Face it, Rose Weasley. You're a fucking catch."

Rose forced out a smile, her gaze instinctively falling behind Alice's shoulder where Scorpius sat at the Slytherin table across from Albus. Her heart skipped an unexpected beat when she realized he already looking at her. He flinched when he discovered he was caught but only winked at her and flashed her a smirk before letting his gaze drop down to his lunch plate.

As she stared at him, she realized that as Alice considered Rose's dating prospects, she felt nothing. She wasn't flattered that apparently guys were showing an interest. She wasn't remotely curious about dating any of them. Her heart didn't skip a beat and she didn't smile or feel a flutter in her stomach. She literally felt nothing. The only time she felt anything was when she was with Scorpius.

Suddenly, the Great Hall seemed so small. She felt the walls closing in on her and the temperature rise to unbearable heat. She wasn't supposed to feel anything with Scorpius or towards Scorpius. The whole point of casually fooling around with him was to keep any sort of feelings out of it. And now she couldn't get him out of her mind and all she wanted to do was spend every minute of every day in her bedroom tangled up in the sheets with him. No. That couldn't happen. She had to stop it.

"Fine," she blurted out, turning to face Alice. "I'll go on a date with Haydn."

Alice's eyes lit up. "Really?"

She shrugged. "Yeah," she sighed reluctantly. "If he asks, I'll go."

She ignored that feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her this was the last thing she wanted to do.

* * *

 **Friday, December 4** **th** **, 8:30 AM  
History of Magic**

"Haydn Thomas, hm?"

Rose jumped as an unexpected body slipped into the empty seat beside her in History of Magic the next day. "That seat's taken," she drawled.

"Looks pretty empty to me," Scorpius smirked. "And you didn't answer the question."

"Saying a Gryffindor's name is hardly a question."

"I have been informed by the gossip train, otherwise known as those pesky Hufflepuffs, that you are going on a date with Haydn Thomas."

She shrugged. "Still not a question."

He let out a disgruntled scowl. "Care to confirm that rumor?"

Rose rolled her eyes as she watched other students pile into the classroom. "Who I date is hardly any of your concern."

Scorpius frowned, frustration surging from deep within his heart. If Rose wasn't actually planning to go on a date with Haydn, she would have said so. He tried to stay composed as if his head wasn't screaming in utter annoyance, but the idea of her in the arms of another man made his blood boil. Which ultimately confused him because he wasn't supposed to care.

"Well," he muttered, pulling himself out of the chair, "I suppose it's been fun while it lasted."

She looked up, startled. "Who said I was putting an end to anything?"

He blinked curiously. "I assumed by agreeing to a date with another bloke, that was your way of saying 'piss off' to me. Was it not?"

Yes, that had been her intention. But the idea of actually stopping her clandestine relationship with Scorpius seemed tragic. She knew it was in her best interest to put an end to her arrangement with Scorpius before she was in so deep she couldn't find her way out. But when she opened her mouth to tell him that, the words wouldn't form.

Thankfully, she didn't have to say anything as Albus and Alice wandered into the room.

Scorpius felt every bone in his body fill with frustration for not getting an answer from Rose. The last thing he wanted to do was stop fooling around with her, for every inch of his body ached for her when he wasn't with her. But he didn't want to give either one of them any impression that he needed her in any way. He wanted to believe he was fine with her going on a date when instead the very idea made him unexpectedly squeamish.

While Binns droned on about the Death Eater Azkaban breakout, neither Rose nor Scorpius paid much attention, too busy drowning in their own thoughts of confusion and fear regarding each other to bother caring about anything else.

* * *

 **Friday, December 4** **th** **, 9:58 PM  
Head Dorm**

Rose was pretending to finish her Potions essay that night, though she had been staring at the near-finished essay for over twenty minutes without so much as writing a single sentence down. Scorpius Malfoy really was going to be the reason she failed and she would certainly consider murdering him if it ever came to that.

She wasn't surprised in the least to hear a knock at her door around ten o'clock that night. She knew the Slytherins had had Quidditch practice, which gave her two free hours to contemplate what to say to Scorpius when he came asking about their brief conversation in History of Magic earlier in the day.

"Come in," she initiated, her quill now scribbling down a few nonsensical words across the page to at least put up the pretense that she was working.

She door creaked open and Scorpius walked in, glancing hesitantly at the redhead sitting at her desk. Albus had yelled at him six times that night for not paying attention. He had missed half the tennis balls that were thrown in the air and then got hit by a bludger for swerving the wrong way during a standard maneuver. So now Albus was mad at him and his arm was already sporting a dark bruise. This was nowhere near the best time to be having any sort of deep conversation with Rose but he had to get it over with if he expected to be able to play Quidditch well.

"Hey," he greeted.

She glanced up from the page with a strained smile. "How was practice?"

"Brutal. I got clocked in the shoulder by a bludger."

She smirked. "Y'know, last I checked, you were supposed to avoid bludgers."

"Gee, thank you for that sound advice."

She shrugged coyly. "You should be grateful I'm giving the enemy any kind of advice."

He hesitated before saying, "Enemy as in Slytherin and Gryffindor? Or enemy as in you and me?"

She froze at the unexpected question, her stomach growing knots in anticipation of what was to come. "What do you think?"

He frowned, staring at her in a bit of bewilderment. "I think," he spoke carefully, "We may not be enemies anymore."

She looked at him, her heart starting to race. "Then what are we?"

He winced. "I was really hoping you wouldn't ask that."

She shrugged. "It's okay not to know," she argued. "I'm not sure myself."

He nodded gratefully, sensing the same confusion in her words that he felt in his heart. "We never got to finish our conversation from earlier."

"Which conversation?" she said, though she knew perfectly well what he was referring to.

He shot her a look. "You know which conversation."

She sighed, tossing her quill down on to the page and climbing out of the chair as she slowly made her way over to him. "You and I are having some fun together," she pointed out. "It's casual and it means nothing. We mean nothing to each other. So if I want to go on a date or you want to, we are perfectly in our right to do so."

"I don't date."

She clenched her fists at her side. "Yes, I know perfectly well how you feel about monogamy," she drawled. "But that wasn't really the point of what-"

"It's not monogamy I'm against," he was quick to argue. "It's love in general."

Well, that startled Rose. "What?"

He frowned, uncertain why he bothered to clarify when none of it mattered to her anyway. Sighing, he shrugged. "Love is a lie that I simply refuse to believe," he spoke, not sure if he was trying to convince her or himself. "It means nothing. It's an empty promise of broken hope. There's no such thing as love."

All she could do was stare at him, feeling a rush of shocked emotions filling her heart as she tried to figure out why his words seemed to cut her so deeply. "How do you know if you've never felt it?"

"I've seen enough of it to know it doesn't exist."

Her brow furrowed hesitantly and she had this feeling deep within her that he was referring to his parents. But as she didn't know anything about them, she wasn't sure how to comment. "I don't know why, but that just makes me so incredibly sad for you."

He shrugged, unperturbed by her words. "Are you telling me that after what happened with you and Cameron, you still believe in love?"

She felt as if she just got punched in the gut, the reminder of her broken heart now far too prevalent to ignore. She contemplated his words carefully, wondering what she considered to be the truth. Glancing up at him, she could tell he really was interested in her answer. "I have to believe there is something better for me out there than the occasional casual hook-up with a guy I've despised for six years."

The words caused an unexpected tugging sensation in his heart. "There is," he spoke softly. "Something better for you, I mean."

Whatever she was expecting him to say, it wasn't that. "You really think so?"

He offered her a curt nod. "Don't base all male tendencies on your unfaithful prick of an ex-boyfriend and me. There may be the occasional asshole in the world but there are some decent blokes out there, too."

She cocked her head to the side curiously. "Y'know, I'm beginning to think you may not be the asshole you always pretend to be, Scorpius."

"Oh, no, believe me. I am an asshole," he snorted. "But enough about me. You never answered my question."

"What question?"

"Are you or are you not going on a date with Haydn Thomas?"

"I actually did answer that question by reminding you it wasn't any of your business."

He rolled his eyes. "But where does that leave me and you?"

"It leaves you hovering in my doorway and me standing in front of you."

The fact that she didn't come out and say she was putting an end to them was a very good sign. "I can see that, but the hovering in the doorway and the standing in front of me would look a lot better if our clothes weren't involved."

She couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head in disbelief. "You may have been right before."

"About?"

"You really are an asshole," she smirked before closing the gap and pressing her lips to his.

* * *

 **Friday, December 4** **th** **, 11:02 PM  
Head Dorm**

"You looking forward to the holidays?"

Scorpius peeked an eye open, glancing over at her. "What?"

She shrugged, staring up at the ceiling. "I just asked if you were looking-"

"No, I heard you, I'm just…" he trailed off, saying nothing further. It wasn't as if it was an unusual question considering everyone at school appeared to be chatting about their holiday plans. He just hadn't expected Rose to care enough to ask him.

"You just what?" she asked. "Surprised that I bothered asking?"

Scorpius hated it when she could read his mind. "Well, yeah. I wasn't aware my holiday plans concerned you."

"They don't," she said, reaching down and pulling the sheet atop her naked body. "I was simply curious considering all anyone can talk about these days is our bloody holiday break."

Dammit, there she went again reading his mind. "You don't sound like you're terribly excited for the holidays."

She shrugged, turning towards him with a curious gleam in her eye. "The holidays with the Weasleys are a surefire way to cause conflict," she said with a shrug.

"That's because there are enough Weasleys to form a small army. Conflict is bound to occur with that many people."

She shrugged but said nothing more as she let her gaze lift towards the ceiling once again.

Not that he would ever admit it to her or to anyone, but a part of him was incredibly envious of what they had. They all complained quite a bit about how having a big family meant never getting a moment of peace. It meant overprotective brothers and cousins that didn't know when to back off. It meant hormonal girls bitching and moaning at each other. It meant fights breaking out at the dinner table. It meant no privacy. It meant someone was always breathing down their neck.

But Scorpius would take that over a racist grandfather and a neglectful father any day of the week.

"Do you all get together for the holidays?" he asked curiously, assuming the answer was a big, fat 'yes.'

"For Christmas Eve we do a huge friends and family ordeal," she said. "So it's not just Weasleys and Potters. The Longbottoms come and the Scamanders and the Lees and sometimes the Thomas' and the Finnigans. But for actual Christmas Day, it's just the immediate family in the morning. And typically in the afternoon, we break off and visit other family. We'll probably go and see my Papa on my mother's side."

"The Muggle?"

Hesitation settled into her expression as she nodded. "Yes. Is that a problem?"

Scorpius shot her a look, turning over and propping himself up on his elbow. "Did I say it was a problem? I was just confirming, Rose."

She frowned, stealing a glance at him and sensing no judgment in his eyes. "Oh," she murmured. "Well, yeah. My mother was a Muggleborn so that would in fact make my grandfather a full-blown Muggle."

"It's better than having a full-blown ex-Death Eater for a grandfather," he muttered, immediately regretting it.

When he dared to look over at Rose, he saw her facing him as she stared at him with a tilted head. "You don't get along with your grandfather?"

He blinked at the probing question. "No," he said with a shrug. "He still believes in pureblood supremacy and I don't."

She frowned hesitantly before asking, "And what about your grandmother?"

He frowned. They were starting to get into questions that he was becoming slowly uncomfortable with. "She died a few years ago."

Her expression turned remorseful, offering him a sad smile. "I'm sorry."

He shrugged but was grateful when she said nothing more. He hadn't known his grandmother all that well but it had still been a blow. She had always been able to calm down his grandfather when he started into one of his rants and ever since she died, his grandfather only got worse. A grandfather that Scorpius would be forced to spend Christmas Eve with. Oh, joy.

He turned his head away, wondering if he should start gathering his clothes and heading back to his room. He decided not to, instead saying, "Not to be completely nosy, but when you said what you were doing for Christmas, you only mentioned you'd be visiting your papa. Does that mean your grandmother on your mother's side is…"

"She died," she spoke softly, regret resting in her eyes. "I was nine when it happened."

"I'm sorry," he said just like she had.

"Me, too," she murmured, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "She loved teaching us about Muggle things. Riding bikes. Watching movies. Playing soccer. Muggle nursery rhymes."

He saw a flicker of nostalgia in her eyes as she spoke. "Do you miss her?"

She blinked in surprise, glancing at him curiously. "Yeah," she said. "It's different now. I think it really hit Papa the hardest. He's only really ever had her. I mean, he had my Mum, too, but when the war was happening, she had to…well, never mind."

He saw her cheeks flush. "She had to what?"

"It's nothing," she argued, forcing a smile on her face. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"Rose," he spoke softly, placing his hand over hers. "What is it?"

Her eyes glanced down to where his hand was touching hers before she looked up at him, guilt evident in her brown eyes. "She had to modify their memories and remove all trace of her from their minds," she spoke softly. "For an entire year, they lived in Australia and were under the impression they had no children. She did it to protect them, but later when she reversed the charm, a lot of their childhood memories had been lost for good."

Scorpius felt the ice fill his heart at the harsh truth of her words. He almost wished he hadn't pushed her into telling him.

"I…I don't think there's anything I can say to that," he whispered honestly, pulling his hand away from hers as shame for his family and the organization they were a part of filled his every vein.

"You don't have to say anything," she spoke softly, shaking her head. "I shouldn't have even said what I did."

"You mean the truth?" he murmured, shrugging. "There's nothing wrong with telling the truth, Rose."

"There is when it creates a barrier between us because of our pasts," she muttered, her words filled with slight frustration, as she started to pull herself out of the bed. "C'mon, I should be starting that Potions essay and-"

"That barrier's been there for six years, Weasley," he sighed, grabbing her arm before she could rush off. "And it will continue to be there for as long as we know each other. It's never going away. We just can't let it define us."

"It's not us who it defines," she murmured. "It's our parents."

"Exactly," he spoke, grabbing her waist and drawing her into him. "It's their baggage, not ours.'

She glanced up at Scorpius with a curious expression etched into her face. "Then why is it we always seem to make it our baggage, too?"

He hesitated curiously. "It was easy throwing it in each other's faces," he said with a frown. "Both of our parents and my grandparents were integral parts of opposite sides of the war. Being opposites ourselves, it's always been easy using it as leverage against each other."

She felt her heart ache at the unfortunate words he spoke. "We should probably stop doing that," she spoke softly.

He smiled faintly, nodding in agreement. It was another way to attempt to shed the Malfoy and Weasley out of them to focus on the Scorpius and Rose. It would take a lot of time to move past the things their parents did and the things they said to each other because of it, but it was a start. He wasn't naive to think that he and Rose could ultimately change what happened in the past between their parents. That rivalry would always be there. It was what probably sparked their own rivalry to begin with. But they were both beginning to realize that they spent too much time trying to be enemies when it was easier to just admit that they actually knew how to get along.

"Yeah, we probably should," he murmured with a reluctant sigh, wondering deep down if doing so would actually make a difference.

She sensed the burden in his tone and let out a frustrated sigh. "If I had known talking about our holidays was going to bring it back to that stupid war, I wouldn't have asked the question at all."

"Ah, so we are in agreement that the war is stupid?" Scorpius teased, tangling his legs with hers and drawing himself closer to her.

She threw her head back and laughed before meeting his playful grin. "That's probably the first and only time we'll ever agree," she smirked before pressing her lips to his.

It was the second time they spent the night naked in each other's arms.

* * *

 **Friday, December 11** **th** **, 8:00 AM  
Great Hall**

"You've been rather elusive lately."

Scorpius glanced up from his breakfast a week later at the familiar voice. "Leona," he greeted dryly.

She slid into the bench opposite him with a curious smile on her face. "You've been avoiding the Slytherin House."

It hadn't been intentional, but he had been foregoing his old stomping grounds to spend more time in the Head Dorm with Rose. "I've been busy, Leona," he sighed. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm Head Boy and have a lot of responsibilities on top of my already busy schedule of Quidditch practice and upcoming N.E.W.T.s."

She shrugged him off. "That, or you're avoiding me."

He couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Leave it to you to turn my busy year into something about you."

"I know our last conversation didn't exactly go the way either one of us planned, but-"

"No, actually, it went pretty much exactly how I had planned it," he drawled, shaking his head in slight amusement.

Her lips pursed hesitantly. "We used to be friends, Scorpius."

He frowned. "No, we used to be acquaintances. Big difference, Leona."

She glared at him. "I didn't come over here to be insulted," she drawled.

"Then what are you doing here?" he sighed.

She leaned back on the bench, her eyes carrying hesitant curiosity. "Come to the Slytherin party tonight."

"I can't," he said almost immediately.

"And why not? I know you don't have Quidditch practice or patrols."

Scorpius grunted. "So, what, you're checking up on me now?"

"Come to the Slytherin party," she repeated again, ignoring his question.

"Leona-"

"Not for me," she argued with a shrug. "But because you used to live for those parties. We all used to have so much fun together and it doesn't feel the same without you. Do you remember what fun is? Because I can't recall the last time I saw you pick up a drink or hit on some unsuspecting girl and frankly, I can't imagine it's because you've grown up."

He stared at her hesitantly, her words striking an unexpected chord in his heart. It had been over a month since he bothered to show up at one of the Friday night Slytherin parties for he had always chosen to spend that time in Rose's room. But the very fact that he had been choosing some annoying girl over being the life of the party that he used to thrive upon made him wonder who he had turned into because it wasn't someone he particularly recognized.

"For once, I have to agree with Leona," a voice chimed in and Scorpius glanced over his shoulder as Albus joined the duo. "Reclaim the fun, mate."

The part that worried Scorpius was that he really didn't want to. He really just wanted to spend the evening in Rose's room. He didn't want to hang out with his old friends. He didn't want to get drunk. He didn't want to gossip with the boys or play spin the bottle with the girls. He didn't want to do anything of that. Which was unsettling because that was all he had wanted to do in prior years.

"Yeah, okay," Scorpius said with a slight shrug.

Leona and Albus exchanged a look of surprise. "Er…really?" the latter said.

"Yeah, I'll be there. But I'm all out of goblin gin so someone else better be providing it."

The two chuckled and as they dove into their own breakfasts, Scorpius swore he could feel a pair of familiar eyes watching him from behind. When he snuck a peek towards the Gryffindor table, he wasn't at all surprised to meet the curious gaze of Rose Weasley as she stared at him. Frowning, she offered him a curt nod before refocusing her gaze back on to Alice beside her. Scorpius didn't look away immediately, wondering why Rose was looking at him and what she was thinking.

And most importantly, why he even cared.

* * *

 **Friday, December 11** **th** **, 7:30 PM  
Head Dorm **

That evening, Scorpius was lounging on the common room couch with his head buried in his Transfiguration notes when the door opened and in walked Rose. He glanced atop his notes to offer her a curt nod before returning his attention back on the spiritual elements of Animagi transformations.

She said nothing as she headed towards her stairwell, a pile of books in her arms. She stopped at the bottom of her stairs, slowly turning towards the Slytherin. "Not that I'm sure you don't have about a hundred better things to do on a Friday night, but want to review these detention slips with me? Seems there are a handful more than last week and I think there are certain prefects who are abusing their power."

Scorpius glanced up at her with a frown. "I would, but…"

"You have plans," she finished for him with a knowing smile. "Hitting up that Slytherin party tonight, hm?"

He didn't like the fact that she could easily read him. "Albus is forcing me to go."

"Hm, I would have thought it would have been Leona."

Scorpius' eyes narrowed curiously. "Well, she was trying to get me to go, too," he said with a shrug.

"It's fine," she spoke flatly. "I'll just review them myself."

He watched as she spun on her heels and headed up her stairwell. Sighing in anticipation, he blurted out, "Or you could come to the party."

Rose froze on the stairs, blinking hesitantly before slowly turning around to face him. "The last Slytherin party I went to didn't exactly work out in my favor."

Scorpius' brow furrowed as he folded his notes inside his textbook and tossed it on to the table in front of him. "The one in September?" he mused. "If I recall, though to be fair goblin gin is clouding my memory a tad, it seemed like you were actually having fun. Took me by surprise actually."

"Yeah, I know. You made that perfectly clear to me that very same night."

Scorpius blinked as he met the steely warning in her eyes. "I'm not entirely sure I know what you're talking about."

Rose hesitated before shaking her head. She didn't know why she had brought it up in the first place. It was the night that Scorpius insinuated she hadn't shown any outward signs of happiness since her breakup with Cameron and she hadn't at all appreciated the fact that her worst enemy had somehow picked up on that. "It's nothing," she lied. "Never mind. You have fun tonight, but I've got a mountain of schoolwork that my time would be better spent on."

"Hold up!" he called out after her as she disappeared up the stairs. He let out a frustrated grunt before swiftly pulling himself off the couch and taking the stairs by twos. She had left the door open a crack which told him she had expected him to follow her.

Once again, he hated that she could easily read him.

He pushed the door open, watching as she discarded the books on to her desk. "What did I say to you that night?"

"I already said it was nothing," she reminded him.

"You wouldn't have brought it up if it was really nothing."

"You were drunk, Scorpius," she said with a shrug. "You didn't know what you were saying."

His head tipped to the side as he gazed at her, recognizing that she was straightening up the books on her desk so as not to look up at him. He could see a slight hint of red flushing to her cheeks, her eyes filling with unexpected doubt. He had no idea what he had said to her the night of the past party but he could tell staring at her now that it had affected her. "Rose," he spoke softly, walking the few steps into her room to join her at her side. "What did I say?"

She made the mistake of looking up into his eyes and seeing a combination of concern and guilt staring back at her. Her lips pursed as she turned around and leaned her body up against the edge of the desk, folding her arms across her chest. "You told me you hadn't seen me happy since before my breakup with Cameron."

Scorpius blinked in surprise, taking a cautious step back. "Fuck, I brought up Zee?"

She nodded swiftly.

"I shouldn't have done that," he admitted with a shake of the head.

"Why not? It was true."

His eyebrow shot up into his forehead. "What?"

She shrugged, her heart skipping an unexpected beat as she forced herself to look away from the boy in front of her. "You called me out on it," she argued. "You can't be surprised to hear that I agree with you."

His brow furrowed in unwavering confusion. He opened his mouth to argue with her but he found himself unable to do so. Because while he never would have admitted it to her unless under the influence, the cheerful girl that always used to bug him with her chipper attitude had turned bitter and cynical, something he never thought he'd ever see in her. "That was two months ago," he pointed out.

Glancing back over at him, she said, "So?"

He wandered over to her bed with a shrug, perching on the end of it as he faced her. "So I don't think that anymore."

She blinked in surprise. "You don't?"

He was surprised when even he shook his head. "I'd like to believe it was because you found someone far better to snog," he teased, knowing that he couldn't explain himself any further without slipping into an unsettling conversation he knew that neither of them wanted to have.

She met his gaze before bursting into laughter, the cheekiness in his voice and the smirk on his face too much for her to not find amusement in.

But the scary part was, as she was laughing at the ridiculousness of his statement, she suddenly because aware that it wasn't that ridiculous at all.

He swiftly picked himself off the bed and closed the gap between them, placing his hands on her hips as he leaned over and pressed his lips to hers. "Come to the party," he murmured between kisses.

"Why do you want me there?"

He shrugged, dipping his head down as he trailed kisses along her neck. "Why not?" he whispered into her warm flesh.

She let out a slight moan as she tilted her head back. "How about you stay here instead?" she murmured, her arms coming around to wrap themselves around his neck.

Oh, how he wanted more than anything to consent but he knew if he didn't show up to the party, Albus and Leona would read too much into it. "Wish I could," he sighed before recapturing her lips with his. " _Really_ wish I could."

She smirked into the kiss, parting her lips as his tongue slipped into her mouth. She felt her stomach flutter with unexpected yearning as she felt his body press up against hers, his lips dancing hungrily against hers.

"One hour," she whispered breathlessly.

He pulled back with an arched eyebrow. "Hm?"

"I'll join you for one hour. And then you and I are coming back here and picking up where we left off," she urged, shoving him away reluctantly.

His eyes gleamed in pure delight. "You've got yourself a deal, Rose Weasley."

* * *

 **Friday, December 11** **th** **, 8:05 PM  
Slytherin Common Room **

Albus and Alice were lounging on the green velvet couch when the Head Girl and Head Boy wandered in. Albus stopped mid-sentence as he stared at his friend and cousin, the latter laughing at something that the former was saying.

"What the hell?" he murmured.

Alice followed his gaze and noticed immediately what he was referring to. "What the hell is right," she said just as Rose and Scorpius made their way over to the pair.

"That better be a bottle of goblin gin," Scorpius urged as he stole the bottle out of Albus' hand before joining them on the couch.

"Firewhisky," Albus corrected. "And care to tell me what's going on here?"

Rose and Scorpius exchanged an inquisitive look. "What's going on where?"

"With you two," he spoke huffily. "You just arrived together."

"Because we live together," Rose said with a roll of the eyes. "What was I supposed to do, wait for Scorpius to leave, give him a ten-minute head start and then arrive after him?"

"I was more thinking you were supposed to not show up since that's what you've been doing all year."

"I showed up once," she argued.

"Oh, gee, my mistake. You showed up _once_ ," he drawled, rolling his eyes at her.

Rose was grateful for all of a half second when a new voice interrupted what she could only describe as a pointless conversation. But the gratitude dissipated when she realized it was Leona. "You showed up," Leona spoke, a hint of a smile on her face as she addressed Scorpius.

"It would appear that way, wouldn't it," he drawled as he brought the firewhisky bottle to his lips.

"And you brought Weasley," she spoke, turning her gaze on to the redhead.

"Gee, nothing gets past you, does it," the Gryffindor snorted.

"I was under the impression these parties weren't exactly your scene," Leona fired back. "You see, we like to have _fun_ at these things and you seem to thrive on being a buzzkill."

Rose merely rolled her eyes. "I did not come here to partake in ridiculous small talk with you, Goyle, so kindly find someone else to annoy."

The blonde made a show of rolling her eyes before turning back towards Scorpius. "Come dance with me," she urged.

"Not right now, Leona," he sighed, shaking his head.

She looked torn between disappointed and frustrated. "You're saying you'd rather sit here and spend it with the likes of Weasley than with your friends who you actually belong with?"

Scorpius' eyebrow shot up into his forehead as he met the determination in the other Slytherin's eyes. "Just because you need a posse to immerse yourself with doesn't mean I do. I'm perfectly fine being my own person."

"You're a Malfoy," she snorted, slowly shaking her head. "You'll never be your own person."

She shot him a significant look before traipsing back over to where Noah Zabini sat with his arms wrapped around Elle.

Rose frowned as she watched the anger settle into Scorpius' eyes as he busied himself with a long swig of firewhisky.

"Ignore her," Albus spoke, nudging his mate's arm. "She doesn't know what she's talking about."

Scorpius merely shrugged and pretended not to be affected by Leona's words when they all knew he was. Just because he was born into the Malfoy family and placed into Slytherin alongside the rest of the offspring to pureblooded, Voldemort-supporting families didn't mean he had to agree with his father or grandfather's views. But the unfortunate part was, that was all anyone would ever see when looking at him. Just another bad egg in a sea of pureblooded fortune.

"You want to piss off Goyle, Malfoy?" Alice spoke up, interrupting his thoughts.

He turned towards the blonde Gryffindor who was leaning in towards him with a hint of a smirk on her face. "What do you have in mind, Longbottom?"

She took the bottle out of his hands and took a long drink before handing it off to Rose. "Dance with me."

Scorpius' eyebrows shot way up into his forehead, the looks of surprise on both Rose and Albus' face not going unnoticed by him. While he and Alice Longbottom had been forced to spend time together every now and then because of Albus, he considered her a mere passing acquaintance, and the fact that she had always been the best friend of the girl he hated made a great part of him not particularly fond of her. "Come again?"

She chuckled. "Don't look so surprised. It's not like I asked you to shag me or anything."

" _Can you not even joke about that_?" Albus spoke up in a low growl.

Both Rose and Scorpius turned towards him in amusement at the vehemence in his tone, but Alice merely smirked. "Are you dancing with me or not, Malfoy?"

He would have much preferred to dance with Rose but seeing as that wasn't an option, he shrugged and climbed off the couch. "But don't even think about trying anything, Longbottom. You are so not my type."

"Wait, you're actually doing this?" Albus scoffed.

"That's funny, I thought anything with boobs was your type, Malfoy," she smirked, ignoring Albus' comment altogether as she grabbed Scorpius' hand and made her way over to the makeshift dance floor.

"What the hell is she playing at?" Albus muttered under his breath as he glared at his two friends.

Rose stole a sideways glance at her cousin. "I really don't think you have anything to worry about," she spoke hesitantly, not sure if she was trying to convince him or herself. Seeing her friend and the guy she was fooling around with dancing closely together made her stomach churn in an unexpected way. "Alice may be a serial snogger and Scorpius may be a manwhore, but I really do think Alice is just trying to take Scorpius' mind off of Goyle's below-the-belt comment."

There was still a bit of slight frustration in Albus' eyes as he turned away from the pair, swiping the firewhisky out of Rose's hands and taking a long swig. "Leona asked me today if I thought she had a shot with Scorpius."

Rose tried to ignore the overwhelming curiosity swelling in her heart as she responded. "And what did you say?"

Albus hesitated before shrugging. "I think Scorpius made himself pretty clear how he felt about her. Or how he didn't feel about her. But then again, he broke things off with her at the end of last year only months before starting something up with her again. So I guess it isn't out of the question."

Rose frowned, his gaze falling onto Scorpius and Alice who were laughing on the dance floor. "Well, he's an arrogant arse and she's a stuck-up slag so I suppose those two deserve each other," she spoke, hoping to hide the frustration in her voice.

She could feel Albus' narrowed eyes on her and she wondered if she hadn't hidden her frustration as well as she had hoped. "I don't know if you can call him an arrogant arse anymore when you two seem to actually be getting along."

Rose rolled her eyes. "We must be good actors then because I still can't stand him and I assure you the feeling on his end is mutual."

Albus considered interrogating her further but quickly realized his heart wasn't into it so he merely shrugged and said, "If that's how you really feel."

As Rose's eyes instinctively fell on to the dance floor once again, she felt an unexpected tugging at her heart that was reminding her it was how she _had_ to feel. He was still Scorpius Malfoy and she was still Rose Weasley and whatever love-hate relationship they may have been teetering on the edge with, it would always ultimately land on the hate side of things. Their families lived in two different worlds and while they had bonded over unexpected similarities at times, she knew it could only ever be fleeting. It could never and would never be anything more.

So with a reluctant sigh, she simply said, "It's how I really feel."

But only because she had to feel that way.

* * *

 **Friday, December 11** **th** **, 8:20 PM  
Slytherin Common Room **

"So, dancing with Scorpius, hm?" Rose teased, nudging Alice with her elbow when Alice came back over to the couch and dropped down beside her.

Alice rolled her eyes as she swiped the firewhisky from her friend's hands. "He looked like he needed a pick-me-up," she argued. "Where'd Albus go?"

"Well, he claimed he was going to go look for goblin gin but it appears he found a better interest in Quinn Wilkes."

The bottle was halfway to Alice's lips when she pulled it away swiftly, whirling her head around to turn to where Rose was gesturing towards. Her eyes narrowed curiously. "I didn't think Albus liked Wilkes."

"I didn't think he did either but he's now dancing with her so apparently we were both wrong."

Alice frowned and turned away, taking a long swig of the firewhisky without bothering to say anything.

"We should go join them," Rose urged with a shrug.

Alice blinked, staring at her friend hesitantly. "Are you sick or something, Roe?"

" _What_?"

"Well, that's the only explanation I can think of for _you_ suggesting we dance."

Rose was all ready to roll her eyes but she stopped suddenly, a frown instead spreading across her face. She thought back to her conversation with Scorpius at the Slytherin party in September, about how she hadn't been happy since before Cameron. Back then, she had been somewhat of a partying fiend. She'd be on the dance floor, laughing and drinking and staying out until three in the morning with her friends. A year ago, Alice wouldn't have thought something was wrong with Rose for suggesting moving to the dance floor. A year ago, it would have been a given.

"It's not a Slytherin party until we hit the dance floor, Ace," Rose said, ignoring the curious thoughts running through her head.

Alice glanced at her, a small smile breaking out. "You seem different lately, Roe.'

Rose' eyebrow shot up. "Er…different how?"

Alice shrugged, pulling herself off the couch and extending her hand to her friend. "Just…different."

Rose reached for the firewhisky and glanced at it contemplatively before pulling it to her lips. "Good different or bad different?" she mused.

Alice smiled, grabbing her friend's hand and pulling her off the couch. "Definitely good."

Rose let out a relieved smile. She didn't know how or why but she felt different, too. So much had changed in the past year. She wasn't the same person she used to be and while she had spent so much time trying to figure out who she was and who she could be, she realized that it didn't particularly matter that she still hadn't figured it out as long as she was okay with who she was in the moment. And for the first time in a long time, she felt happy.

Or at least she did until she caught sight of Scorpius dancing with Leona and she was only reminded how messed up her life really was. Scorpius had joked earlier than she was happier now because she had found someone new to snog and the truth was, a part of her feared he might be right. But he wasn't supposed to make her happy. He was supposed to be a distraction, the guy she fooled around with to forget everything else going on in her life. He was supposed to be mere fun, a feeling moment of casual satisfaction that could never last.

So when did he become something more?

* * *

 **Friday, December 11** **th** **, 9:15 PM  
Random Hallway **

Rose had slipped out unnoticed a little over an hour later. She was slightly buzzed as she slid through the hallways towards the Head Dorm. She had left Alice and Albus on the dance floor while Scorpius had been dragged into a conversation about after-Hogwarts plans with Noah and Elle. Knowing it was her best chance at getting away, she finished off the firewhisky in her hand and quickly disappeared before anyone could try and convince her to stay.

She was halfway back to the Head Dorm when she heard hurried footsteps behind her. She stiffened slightly in anticipation of who might be there, whirling around just as Scorpius rounded the corner.

"Oh, it's just you," she murmured, suddenly wishing it had been anyone but him.

"I saw you leaving," he said as he made his way over to her. "What happened to leaving together?"

"We arose suspicion showing up together, Scorpius," she pointed out. "I hardly think leaving together would have made them all talk less about us."

"You worry too much," he argued, slinging his arm across her shoulder.

"Someone has to," she scoffed

His eyebrow shot upward as he lifted his arm off of her, taking a hesitant step back. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I don't fancy myself being caught fooling around with you, that's all," she drawled.

He frowned. "Believe me, I'm all for keeping this a secret, Rose."

"Glad to know we're on the same page," she spoke coolly, folding her arms across her body.

His expression grew into bewilderment. "I'm getting a very strong angry vibe from you. Did I do something to piss you off?"

"No," she sighed, shaking her head. "It's just been a long night."

"It's only nine o'clock."

"It's nine-fifteen."

He blinked. "Did you seriously just correct me by _fifteen minutes_?"

She rolled her eyes as she turned her back on him and started down the hallway once again. She didn't know why she was picking a fight with Scorpius. All she knew was that he was one of the last people she wanted to be talking to. Being around him only clouded her judgment and all she wanted was to see things clearly once again.

"Guess I had to realize that your alleged happy mood had to come to an end at some point."

She froze, whirling around to glare at him at the reminder of their conversation from earlier. "Yeah, I guess you just aren't half as satisfying as you actually thought," she fired back.

He let out an aggravated grunt. "Even though I joked earlier, I hardly think I had anything to do with your attitude adjustment," he drawled. "Nor do I particularly care what did change it. But I appreciate the insult when all I'm trying to do is figure out what's got your knickers in a bloody twist."

She shook her head vehemently. "I never asked you to figure me out, Scorpius," she snapped. "Believe me, there are about a thousand other people on this Earth that are more qualified for that job than you."

"Oh good, more insults," he grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Do you care to tell me what the hell it is I did between the hour we left our dorm and now? What, are you jealous that I danced with your best friend? Resentful that Leona has a thing for me? Annoyed that I ditched you to hang out with my Slytherin friends?"

She could only stare at him in utter disbelief. "Has your head always been this far up your arse?" she hissed. "Because _for your information_ , I don't give a shit about who you choose to spend your time with. If you recall, I'm the one going on a date tomorrow which only proves how little you mean to me."

Scorpius blinked in surprise, gaping at her as she continued to glare at him. "You're still going on that date with Thomas?"

Rose frowned before nodding. "Is there a particular reason I shouldn't go out with him?"

Scorpius opened his mouth to remind her that she had been occupying all of her nights with him that week that he only assumed Haydn Thomas was all but forgotten about. Until he realized he couldn't say that because that would insinuate that he had suspected her of choosing him over Haydn. And he wasn't in the business of being someone's chosen one. "No," he murmured with a curt shrug. "You should go out with him."

She was surprised by the slight coldness in his tone. "Good," she murmured. "I will."

There was so much more he wanted to say but he somehow held his tongue as he slipped past Rose and headed down the hallway, reminding himself that he didn't care what Rose did or said. If she wanted to suddenly be shot with him, he had to shrug it off and pretend it didn't bother him. If she wanted to go on a date with some haughty Gryffindor, he had to pretend he didn't care. He had to pretend a lot of things with Rose Weasley because he didn't dare let her know the truth.

The truth being that he did actually care. But she could never know that.

* * *

 **Friday, December 11** **th** **, 9:45 PM  
Head Dorm **

Rose and Scorpius had gone their separate ways when they reentered their dorm, neither particularly in the mood to fool around with each other with all of the confusing thoughts running around in their busy minds. So Rose was cursing her Potions notes, attempting to figure out the difference between the use of goblin blood and ghoul blood in anecdotes, when she realized there were muffled voices coming from the common room downstairs.

Curiosity getting the better of her, she quietly creaked her door open in an attempt to figure out who the nighttime visitor was.

She wasn't at all surprised to find out it was Leona.

"-back to the party, Leona," Scorpius was saying.

"Not without you."

"I was there. I had my fun. Now I'm trying to get some work done."

There was a rather long pause, a tense silence filling the air, before Leona spoke once again. "What exactly do you think you're doing, Scorpius?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

"You do," she sighed. "You showed up with her. And it can't be a coincidence that when she disappeared, you quickly did, too."

Rose blinked in surprise, realizing that they were now talking about her.

"Gee, paranoid much?"

"It's not paranoia," she argued. "It's perception. And my perception is that something is going on with you and Weasley."

"What are you talking about, Leona?" he said in a rather bored voice.

Another heavy silence filled the air and Rose felt herself lean further out her door in anticipation of what Leona might say. "I meant what I said before," she spoke in a rather soft voice. "You're a Malfoy, Scorpius. And what I neglected to add earlier is that she's a Weasley. You already hang around that Potter kid and we've all allowed it because he was placed into Slytherin so we were forced to accept with it. But she's a Gryffindor through and through. She'll never understand you the way we all do and you can't manipulate her into thinking that she can."

Rose's eyebrow shot up at that last comment. Because the truth was, a part of her thought that she did understand him. But maybe she didn't. Maybe it was all just a misperception.

"You make it sound like I'm friends with the girl when I'm not," Sirius drawled rather bitterly. "We've just unfortunately been forced to spend a lot of time together because we are the Heads of this school. You're turning this into something it isn't."

"She's not one of us, Scorpius," she spoke, this time more firmly.

"Or maybe I'm not one of you," he argued. "So go back to the party and find some other guy you can use because it isn't going to be me."

" _Scorpius_ ," she cried out and Rose heard loud footsteps thundering up a set of stairs as Scorpius disappeared from the common room. "I'm not trying to use you, I'm trying to understand you!"

"There's nothing to understand, Leona," Scorpius' voice echoed. "You and I aren't friends. Not really. We hung around the same circle for a couple of years but that doesn't mean we have been anything more than two people who happened to share a House."

"We shared a lot more than that," she drawled.

Rose cringed irritably at the insinuating comment, listening as the creak of stairs had Scorpius returning to the common room. "And now we don't," he urged. "Don't fool yourself into thinking we're anything more than we are."

"We can be."

"No," he said with a heavy sigh. "We can't be."

"And why not?"

More silence and Rose could feel her heart race, wondering what Scorpius might say to her. "Because you will only ever see me as a Malfoy. The son of a pureblooded family who comes from money and so-called prestige. A Slytherin who gets drunk at parties and merely lives in the moment because we think our futures are already carved out for us. The Quidditch star who walks around this school as if he can get anything he wants. Only I don't want any of it. And I don't want you."

"Who the hell have you become, Scorpius? Denouncing everything you come from? Denouncing everything that you are?" she whispered and Rose could have sworn she heard the tears in her voice.

"I might be a Malfoy, Leona, but I'm not defined by my surname. And I'm not defined by my House. And I'm certainly not defined by you."

"You're making a mistake."

"No," he murmured. "For the first time in seventeen years, I feel like I'm finally doing the right thing."

"What are you—Scorpius, where are you going? We're not done with this conversation!"

But Rose heard a distinct door slamming in the distance and she knew Scorpius had fled the common room, signaling the end of the conversation.

Rose tiptoed back into her room and quietly shut the door behind her, wondering why she felt such a strong sense of pride resting in her heart. She had known all of the things that Scorpius had been feeling for a while. He had spoken to her about his insecurities and regret when it came to his family. But he had never once given her the impression that anyone else knew the truth. And instead of just going along with what Leona was saying, he finally put his foot down. He didn't have to do that. He could have gone on pretending he was the dutiful Slytherin who believed in all the same things most of his housemates did but it had clearly gotten to the point where he was done pretending. In a way, Rose wondered if maybe Scorpius Malfoy was growing up. It had once been unfathomable but as she had gotten to know him over the past few months, she couldn't help but realize that she no longer hated the guy he was.

And that was what scared her the most.

On the other side of the common room in the quiet of his own room, Scorpius lay in his bed staring at the ceiling as he recalled the conversation he just shared with Leona. It had felt so weird to be in front of her and feel absolutely nothing. Once upon a time, he would have taken one look at her and shagged her right there on the common room couch because she was an easy lay but as Leona hinted at her warped feelings towards him, he found himself disinterested. And for the first time in his entire life, he wanted her to know the truth. He wanted to give her all the reasons that he couldn't be with her. He wanted her to realize that she didn't have a chance with him. Because they were too different. She believed in the hierarchy within the misshapen world that they had both grown up in. She believed in prestige and power and money and social standing. And he believed in finding a way out of all of it.

He knew a good part of him had Rose to thank for that. She had made him realize that he didn't have to be someone he wasn't. He knew figuring out who he wanted to be and what he wanted to be wasn't ever going to be easy but for the first time in his entire life, he was hopeful that one day he might be able to find out.

As thoughts of Rose crept into his mind, he found himself frowning. He hadn't a clue why Rose had decided to get all pissed off with him earlier but what really bugged him was that he was actually bothered by it. He should have just let her be pissed off but after telling Leona all the things he had been holding in for so long, he was in no mood to hold back his frustrations with Rose, too. So he picked himself out of bed and wandered down his stairwell towards her room. He wasn't sure this was going to end well, but he couldn't spend the night tossing and turning because of a girl he wasn't supposed to give a second thought to.

He had just reached her landing when the door opened and Rose rushed out, nearly toppling right into him. She yelped as he grabbed her arm, stopping the both of them from falling backwards down the stairs.

"Bloody hell, Scorpius, don't _do_ that!"

He chuckled. "Don't do what? Scare you?"

"Yes," she urged, rubbing her forehead that had just slammed into Scorpius.

"Sorry," he said with a shrug as he dropped his hand from her arm. "Where were you headed?"

She frowned. "Nowhere."

Scorpius' eyebrow quirked upward as a slow smirk spread across his expression. "My room perhaps?"

She rolled her eyes. "That depends. What are you doing outside my room?"

"Sex obviously," he spoke almost immediately, laughing when she immediately glared at him in disgust.

"Then you can turn that pretty little head of yours around and go back from whatever hole you just crawled out of because that ain't ever going to happen," she scoffed.

He continued to laugh, finding the impatient fury in her eyes too much of a turn on not to. "Ah, so you admit that my head is pretty, hm?"

She rolled her eyes. "You are impossible to hold an actual conversation with," she drawled before spinning on her heels and rushing back into her own room.

He made the decision to follow her. "I want to know why you're mad at me," he said bluntly.

She frowned as she dropped on to the end of her bed, slowly glancing up to meet the sincerity in his gaze. "I'm not mad at you," she admitted. "I'm mad at myself."

When she said nothing more, he rolled his eyes. "Care to elaborate?"

She hesitated. She couldn't explain to him what was running through her mind for she wasn't entirely certain herself. She only knew that while she and Scorpius had shown signs of actually getting along as strange and unexpected as it was, it wasn't enough to overturn the odds stacked against them. It's not like she wanted to be with him. She didn't. He was just the guy she was having fun with. But the idea that a girl like Leona was better suited for him because of who she was and how she grew up, even if Scorpius was convinced otherwise, still made Rose's blood churn because Scorpius had been right before. Leona didn't know or understand him at all. And it's not like Rose did either but she felt as if she understood pieces of Scorpius that others didn't. And it made her actually see him as a human being and not the arrogant prat he always tried to be. But the unfortunate part of all of it was that he was still a Malfoy and she was a Weasley as much as they pretended with each other that they weren't. She had let her guard down around him far too much already. Maybe it was time to find a way to build that guard back up before either one of them got hurt.

She couldn't tell him any of that so all she did was shake her head. "No, not really," she pleaded. "But I was taking my mood out on you and that isn't fair. So I'm sorry."

His eyebrows jumped upward. "That's it? That's all you're going to give me?"

"Yeah," she spoke with a shrug. "There's nothing more to give."

He tilted his head to the side. "Really? Because you gave me the distinct impression earlier that you were far from happy with me."

"I already said it had nothing to do with-"

"And I'm saying you're lying."

She shrugged coolly. "I'm not going to spend any more time arguing with you so either leave or shut up and kiss me."

He appeared to be pondering her words. "You still want to kiss me?"

"Well, it's pretty much all you're good for," she deadpanned.

He looked shocked as her upper lip twitched with outward amusement which ultimately made him laugh. "You're a snarky little thing, aren't you."

"You must be rubbing off on me."

He threw back his head and laughed before taking the three strides over to her bed and kissing her.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, things are certainly getting interesting... Will either of them just admit that they might feel something towards each other that they had never expected? Time will tell!


	11. Just Lust

**A/N:** Happy New Year! Here is a 2017 present to all of you who requested an update. Word of warning: this chapter ends with some heavy Rated M stuff. Another present for you!

 **Disclaimer:** If I was J.K. Rowling I'd probably have a lot more money in my bank account...

* * *

 **A Different Kind Of Love Story**

By ByeByeBirdie

Chapter 10: Just Lust

* * *

 **Saturday, December 12** **th** **, 1:30 PM  
** **Hogsmeade**

Alice and Albus were chatting beside him but Scorpius barely noticed. He kept glancing around the cobblestone streets of Hogsmeade in search of a particular redhead who had apparently caught his fancy. Only problem was, there were so many Weasleys that red hair was everywhere.

His first sighting of a Weasley was third year Lucy with Frankie Longbottom slipping into Zonko's. Then he noticed Hugo palling around with the Scamander twins and another fifth year, Maya Finnigan. Roxanne looked slightly awkward on what appeared to be a first date with Jax Livins. Louis was with his roommates as they headed into the Three Broomsticks. And his eyebrows shot way up when he saw Lily walking hand-in-hand with Wes Taylor. But so far, no sign of Rose.

He had first wandered into Hogsmeade telling himself he wasn't going to search for her. As she pointed out, she was well within her right to date whoever she wanted. But as he made the trek into Hogsmeade, his heart continued to constrict with angst and he knew that so much of him was dying to find out how her date was going. He hoped badly but he also hated himself for hoping that. He knew that he and Rose weren't dating, nor did he even want to date her, but the idea that she could occupy her time with some other guy and wouldn't need him anymore saddened him more than he liked to admit.

He would never tell her or anyone this but he liked the time he spent with Rose. He had always been convinced that he hated her but he knew now that he didn't. At least not anymore. He wasn't entirely sure what that meant or how he actually felt about her, but he knew their arrangement really had been a blessing in disguise. He found himself drawn to her in ways he never expected. He could talk to her about private things only because he knew she wouldn't blab it to anyone. She had become his secret keeper and he liked that about her. He liked that someone out there seemed to know the real him, not the version he pretended to be for all the spectators of the world who seemed to scrutinize his every move. The Malfoy that had to act bigger than he really was so that no one could ever walk all over him. He had forced himself to be independent. Maybe too independent. And now everything inside of him was screaming because he knew a part of him wanted to be around Rose. Maybe even needed it. And yet she was on a date with another guy and Scorpius wasn't supposed to care about that. He wasn't supposed to care so why did he?

"What the hell?" Albus growled dangerously.

Scorpius glanced up at the hostility in his friend's voice and cringed when he realized that Albus, too, saw his fifteen-year-old sister with seventeen-year-old Wes Taylor.

"Oh, please don't make a scene," Alice groaned, but Albus ignored her as he stormed over to where the couple stood just a few feet away.

"What the hell is this?" Albus sneered, ripping his sister's arm away from Wes.

" _Albus_!" Lily warned, glaring at him. "What is your bloody problem?"

"The only one here who is going to have a problem is Wes once I steer my fist into his face!"

" _Stop it_ ," Lily growled, stepping in between her brother and her boyfriend. "I know you and James and the rest of our goddamned family seem to think you get an opinion on who I date, but you don't!"

"Hey, what is going on here?"

"Oh, you have got to be bloody kidding me," Lily grumbled as Louis strolled over with narrowed eyes. "Stay out of this, Louis."

"She's dating Wes!" Albus snapped.

Louis shot Wes a dirty look. "Like hell she is," he snorted.

"YOU DON'T GET TO TELL ME WHO TO DATE!"

"I'm not telling you who to date," Albus snarled. "I'm telling you who not to date."

"Any chance I could interject here?" Wes spoke up.

" _No_ " was the resounding response from Louis and Albus.

"Okay then."

"Ignore them," Lily snarled, grabbing Wes' hand and pulling him away from the crowd. "C'mon, let's go visit Fred at my uncle's WWW shop."

"Oh, good, more cousins," he teased.

"Oy, we're not done with you yet!" Albus argued.

"Yeah, well we're done with you," Lily snapped over her shoulder. "Wes and I are dating and have been for a month now so you're just going to have to get used to it."

" _A month_!" Louis screeched.

"We never agreed to this!" Albus groaned.

"Mate, let her go," Scorpius finally interjected before a street fight broke out. "She's old enough to make her own choices."

Albus snorted. "Like hell she is. C'mon, Louis, let's see how long it takes Fred to notify James of his younger sister's exploits."

"Oh, Al, please don't," Alice whined but Albus was storming down the street with Louis on his heels. She sighed as they disappeared into the crowd of students. "Well, there goes the end of that date."

Scorpius' brow furrowed, turning to her curiously. "What?"

She froze. "Er…nothing. You up for a butterbeer at Three Broomsticks?"

Scorpius said nothing, his eyes slowly narrowing at the slight panic in her expression. "Wait…" he trailed off hesitantly. "You and Al?"

"No," she said, shaking her head.

His eyes widened. "Holy hippogriff, _you and Al_?"

"I said no," she hissed with a panicked whimper.

"What the hell am I doing as your third wheel? Last I checked, though I'm hardly an expert, two people who are on a date typically just let it be the two of them."

"We're not on a date," she snapped, shaking her head. "We're just friends."

His head cocked to the side. "But you want more?"

She opened her mouth to argue but the words wouldn't form.

He smirked. "You want more."

"No," she spoke softly. "He's the one that wants more. I just don't know if I can give it to him."

Scorpius wasn't sure he wanted to get involved, but the pained expression on Alice's face had him reluctantly asking, "And why not?"

She shook her head, glancing at him hesitantly. "You don't really want to know, Scorpius, do you," she murmured, sidestepping past him and heading towards the Three Broomsticks.

He groaned inwardly as he reached out for her arm, stopping her from walking away. "I asked, didn't I?"

She turned to look at him, her eyes filled with distress. She said nothing at first and Scorpius slowly dropped her arm, waiting for her to speak. He had long learned that sometimes saying nothing was the best way to get someone to open up.

She let out a sigh, averting her eyes towards the ground. "I've never dated anyone before, Scorpius," she muttered, her cheeks turning scarlet. "I never really wanted to because…" she trailed off.

"Because why?"

She said nothing at first, finding a sudden interest in the icicles lining the storefronts. "If I tell you something, do you promise not to tell anyone?" she asked in a soft voice. "Even Rose?"

"Right, like Rose and I partake in personal conversations," he snorted, though he knew that was a lie.

She shot him a look.

He chuckled sheepishly. "You can trust me, Alice."

She frowned, a shiver running down her spine, though she suspected it wasn't because of the cold. "I've had a crush on Albus for as long as I can remember."

Scorpius gaped at her in surprise. " _What_?"

"Yeah, I know, it kinda caught me by surprise, too," she murmured.

His brow furrowed. "But then why have you…"

"Why have I snogged everyone else in the school beside him?" she suggested with an awkward smile. "Well, I pretty much assumed Al would never show an interest in me so the easiest way to try to get over him was to involve myself with other guys. Only it never worked. It just made me want to be with him more."

He considered her words carefully. "I'm not sure I see the problem here," Scorpius mused. "You say he wants more but you don't know if you can give it to him, yet you clearly want to."

She grew unnaturally quiet, ignoring the hustle and bustle around the busy streets as she thought of the underlying insecurities resting in her heart. "Yeah, and every guy I've ever tried to be with has found an easy way to eventually turn me down," she eventually murmured. "I'm the girl who lasts a short period of time before their newest victim comes along. I'm the girl they have their fun with and then chuck the moment they get bored. I'm not what they want. I'm just a girl who they use in the heat of the moment before moving on to someone better. So who's to say Al won't do the same?"

Scorpius considered those words, sensing the burden in every word she spoke. "Al wouldn't be chasing you if you weren't what he wanted," he found himself arguing with a sincere nod. "He wouldn't screw up a seventeen-year-old friendship for the heat of the moment. He doesn't just want you for a short period of time. There is no new victim for him. He won't get bored with you. There is no one better. If he's telling you he wants more then _you're_ what he wants."

As he spoke, his eyes noticed a flash of red hair in his peripheral vision and he knew before even looking that it was Rose. His stomach tightened almost immediately at the convenient timing. He had just finished speaking about Alice's fear of giving into her feelings and it was as if someone was sending him a sign that it was his turn to give into his. The feelings he refused to believe he had because there was never a day in Scorpius' life that he didn't choose his head over his heart. He had never let anyone into his heart before and he wasn't convinced he wanted to. Not yet anyway.

"I'm scared to find out that the real thing won't live up to my expectations," she said, cutting through his thoughts.

He frowned, his heart beating wildly against his ribcage as he finally looked up and saw Rose hovering outside her uncle's joke shop with Haydn. "There's really only one way to find out," he whispered, wondering if he was bold enough to take his own advice.

Alice looked up at him, sensing an unexpected heaviness in his words. "It's that easy, hm?"

He let out a sad laugh, shaking his head. "Merlin, no," he murmured. "Falling for someone is the easy part. Letting yourself love them is harder."

He was rather surprised to realize that he meant those words considering his own negative thoughts of the farce that some people called love.

He clearly wasn't the only one surprised as Alice gaped at him. "Those are rather wise words coming from a guy who knows all too well what it's like to snog half the school without striving for anything more."

He shrugged coyly. "I've never wanted anything more," he muttered, not realizing until much later that it was a lie. "But apparently you do."

She nodded slowly, finding a lot of comfort in his unexpected words of wisdom. She had needed to hear them but hadn't had anyone to talk to. And now that she blurted it all out, she felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders and a better idea of what she wanted and need to do. "Thank you, Scorpius," she spoke softly before instinctively reaching out and embracing him.

He stiffened slightly at the unexpected hug but slid his arms around her and embraced her back, sensing that she just needed to know that everything was going to be okay. "Of course," he spoke as he stepped away from her. "Now how about you go tear that soon-to-be boyfriend of yours away from his sister before she decides to hex him into a coma and this whole conversation would have been for naught?"

* * *

 **Saturday, December 12** **th** **, 1:45 PM  
** **Hogsmeade**

Rose watched her best friend hug the guy she was hooking up with, a sickening feeling of dread filling her heart. She knew she had no right to be annoyed but she was. While Alice and Scorpius had always managed to be civil towards each other, they weren't friends in any way and now there they were looking rather chummy in the middle of the Hogsmeade streets only hours after they shared a dance together. It all seemed rather suspect to her.

"Rose?"

She jumped, whirling around with a fake smile on her face. "Sorry, Haydn, I was just distracted."

He glanced at her curiously. "You've been distracted all day."

She frowned. "I've just got a lot on my mind."

He didn't seem to think that was a good enough excuse. "Why'd you agree to go on this date with me?" he asked softly.

She blinked in surprise. "What?"

"I just…I'm getting the sense that you don't particularly want to be here with me so I'm just wondering why you said yes."

Because it was either that or admit she might be developing feelings towards a guy she absolutely was not allowed to be developing feelings for. "I…I guess I'm just having a hard time moving on," she spoke softly, which was partly the truth.

"From Cameron?"

She sighed, wondering why Cameron Zee had such a strong hold on her months after they broke up. "Yeah, which I know is ridiculous because we broke up six months ago, but…"

"It's not easy getting your heart broken?" he suggested.

Jerking her head up to meet his gaze, she offered him a sad smile. "No, it's quite easy getting your heart broken," she murmured. "The hard part is putting the pieces back together again."

He contemplated her words before slowly shaking his head. "I don't think you can do that on your own," he considered. "I think when the right person comes along, it'll happen without you even realizing it."

She felt slight panic settle into her heart as she wondered if her heart was in fact slowly healing all thanks to Scorpius. Because the only time she wasn't thinking about Cameron was with Scorpius. He knew how to get her mind off of him. Off of her broken heart. Off of her fear of moving on. Scorpius always seemed to know the right thing to do or to say. She hadn't always liked that about him but he had no problem confronting her when he felt she was acting off. He challenged her in a way she had never experienced before. He made her feel as if she mattered, which was weird since for years he made her feel anything but. It was clear that so much had changed between them. She didn't know what to make of it but she wasn't going to spend too much time dwelling on it because she wasn't sure she really wanted to know.

"And something tells me, Rose, that I'm not that right person for you," he spoke softly.

She cringed, glancing up at him hesitantly as she broke out of her revelry. "Oh, Haydn, I'm sorry," she pleaded. "I really do like you. You're an incredible guy."

"I'm just not the guy for you," he said with a smile.

She said nothing but that pretty much sealed their fate. "I really am sorry," she eventually whispered.

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "I hope you find what you're looking for, Rose."

She wrapped her arms around him and embraced him gratefully. "Yeah, me, too."

* * *

 **Saturday, December 12** **th** **, 2:00 PM  
** **Hogsmeade**

Scorpius saw Haydn lean down and kiss her on the cheek. He saw her reach out and hug him. And all he saw was red as the frustration and anger and yes, even jealousy built up inside of him for reasons he couldn't quite pinpoint. She was supposed to be free to date whoever she wanted. He had no claim over her and he was more than content in believing he wanted no claim over her. So instead of dealing with the hot rage bubbling in his heart, he made his way through the crowds of people on the streets and entered the Three Broomsticks.

"Yo, Scorpius!"

He glanced up at the sound of his name and hesitantly sidled up to the table where Roxanne stood chatting with Lucy and Frank. "Yeah, what do you want?"

She rolled her eyes. "A lovely greeting as always," she drawled. "Rumor is Albus caught Lily shagging Wes Taylor in the alleyway behind Honeyduke's. Care to comment?"

Scorpius blinked. "Well, damn, that gossip certainly made its way around fast."

Little Lucy's eyes bulged out. "So it's _true_!?"

"No!" Scorpius groaned, shaking his head. "He caught the two of them, gasp, _holding hands_. Alert the press!"

Roxanne let out a disgruntled sigh. "Oh, that is so much lamer than the alleyway story."

"Well then, why don't you and Jax go shag in the Honeyduke's alleyway and I'll send Al over in a few short minutes?" Scorpius smirked.

Roxanne shot him a dirty look, but another voice chimed in before she could comment. "Whoa, who is shagging in the Honeyduke's alleyway!?"

Scorpius glanced to his right as Albus and Alice appeared, Louis directly behind them. "Not your sister and Taylor, though apparently all of Three Broomsticks thinks so."

" _What_?Who said that!?" Albus demanded to know. "I'll kill them!"

"Al, we've been over this," Alice sighed, shaking her head. "A life sentence in Azkaban isn't worth eliminating a few horny teenagers from the planet."

"Oy, let's not use the word 'horny' in front of our thirteen-year-old cousin," Louis chimed in, nodding towards Lucy.

Lucy burst into laughter. "I am the youngest of eleven very sex-crazed cousins, Louis. Believe me when I say, I've heard it all."

Both Longbottoms burst into laughter while the Potter-Weasley clan looked very uncomfortable. "Well, I definitely need a drink after that," Al muttered.

"I'll buy the first round," a new voice spoke and the group broke out into grins as twenty-year-old Fred sauntered up.

"How generous of you, Fredilicious," Albus drawled. "I wasn't aware working for Daddy paid such big bucks."

"Watch it, Squirt, or I'll be spitting in your butterbeer," he smirked, turning on his heel and heading towards the bar before Albus could comment.

"Make some room," Alice urged, lightly shoving her younger brother's shoulder as she slid into the table beside him.

"You, too, Goose," Louis encouraged as he nudged Lucy and dropped down beside her.

She rolled her eyes at the nickname but obliged as Albus and Scorpius grabbed a nearby table and dragged it over before plopping themselves into empty chairs.

"So you were able to tear Al and Louis away from a potential murder?" Scorpius asked Alice once they were all settled.

"I wasn't going to murder the guy," Albus scoffed. "I was just going to rough him up a bit."

"Who are you murdering, Al?" Lucy asked.

"Wes bloody Taylor," Louis muttered irritably.

"Actually, my middle name is Daryl," a male voice spoke up and the group glanced up as Wes and Lily wandered up hand-in-hand with a smirking Hugo right behind them.

"I liked it better when you weren't talking," Albus drawled before setting his gaze on Hugo. "And _you_ , you little shit. Were you ever going to mention that my bloody sister landed herself an older boyfriend?"

Hugo rolled his eyes. "I was more trying to avoid a brawl."

"Smart kid," Scorpius smirked.

"And on that lovely note," Lily murmured, glancing up at Wes, "What do you say we find a table?"

"Oh, no you don't!" Albus scoffed, jumping up and pulling out two seats for them. "You two are going to join us here at our table."

Lily's eyes narrowed curiously. "You actually want the two of us in your presence?"

"Hell, no," he snorted, "But it's better than you two cuddling up at your own table. At least this way I can keep an eye on you."

"Has anyone ever told you what a jackass you are?" she scoffed.

"Yeah, quite a few people actually. Now park your asses in those chairs."

Scorpius was finding much amusement in their whole exchange, finding it somewhat endearing how protective Albus was over his sister. But the amusement very quickly faded when the door to the Three Broomsticks opened and in walked Rose.

He caught her eye across the room and he frowned immediately, his heart doing an unexpected somersault at the mere sight of her. She just stared at him for a moment, not moving until someone came in after her and lightly pushed her out of the way. She tore her eyes off of Scorpius, her jaw taut with what appeared to be resentment, though he couldn't be sure what that was in reference to. He found a sudden interest in the tabletop as she slowly wandered their way.

"Ah, Rosie!" Fred's voice boomed as he made his way back over to the table with the butterbeers levitating in front of him. "You're just in time for a butterbeer."

Her lips pursed as she glanced surreptitiously at Scorpius before reluctantly dropping into an empty seat beside Louis.

As Fred passed out the round of drinks, Scorpius said, "This might be redhead overload for us blonde folks."

Alice and Frankie, both blondes, laughed with him. "It just means we stand out more," Alice teased, reaching across the table and high-fiving the Slytherin, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by Rose.

"It's not like you're not used to being surrounded by redheads," Albus pointed out to Scorpius. "The annual New Year's Eve party at my place has far more than this, of which you've been a part of the last few years."

"Yeah, any chance you'll be skipping it this year?" Rose drawled irritably as she sipped her butterbeer.

Scorpius slowly turned his gaze on her, recognizing the hostility in her voice and pretending that he didn't care why it was there. As he met her gaze, he found frustration sparkling in her narrowed eyes and all he could do was blink in mild irritation. "I will be there for the sole reason that it clearly pisses you off, Weaslet."

"How nice of you to go out of your way to spend time harassing me," she grunted. "Don't have much else going on in your life there, do you?"

He snorted seeing as Rose knew very well that his so-called empty life was actually quite busy with all the time he and Rose spent together. "Oh, I think you and I both know that I have plenty going on," he smirked.

Her eyes narrowed at him. "Yes, fooling around with your latest bimbo does fill quite a bit of time, doesn't it."

He had to stop himself from saying that she would know and was more than happy when Albus interrupted. "Oy, shut it, you two. You'll have plenty of time to spar on New Year's Eve," Albus scoffed. "Oh, and Wes? You're not invited."

"He certainly is!" Lily huffed.

"You really want James to be anywhere near him?"

"James doesn't scare me!"

"He scares me," Wes murmured.

"Are you going to invite Haydn to the New Year's Eve party, Rose?" Scorpius smirked at Rose, ignoring the glaring contest between sister and brother.

She glared at him. "None of your damned business."

"Where is he anyway?" Alice asked Rose curiously.

"Yes, where is that _darling_ boyfriend of yours?" Scorpius chortled.

Rose refrained from throwing her butterbeer in his face. "He's off with some friends," she spoke vaguely.

Alice frowned but before she could comment, Fred chimed in. "Who the hell is Haydn and why am I only hearing of this new boyfriend now?"

"You know who he is, Fred. We grew up with him. But he's not my boyfriend," Rose was quick to argue. "It was just one date. Don't start sending in the cavalry after him quite yet."

"Quite yet?" Alice said, her eyes lighting up. "Does that mean it might lead to something?"

" _No_ ," Rose groaned.

"Oh, c'mon! Why not? He's such a good guy!"

"Then you date him."

"Somehow I think it's not me he's interested in," she argued. "Did you even give him a chance?"

"Y'know what, Alice? How about you lay off my love life for once?" she snapped. "Just because no guys have ever shown any interest in taking you to Hogsmeade all these years doesn't mean you need to live vicariously through me."

Silence filled the table once again, the insult resting thickly in the air around them.

"I'm sorry that I'm trying to get you to act like a seventeen-year-old girl," Alice spoke coolly, "Instead of the sixty-year-old spinster you're turning out to be. At this point, you may as well start collecting cats because they're about the only thing who will ever love you."

She gulped down the rest of her butterbeer before picking herself out of her chair and storming out of the restaurant.

Another awkward silence encased the table until Albus sighed and said, "That was uncalled for, Rose."

She frowned. "I know," she muttered.

"Besides, you're wrong," Scorpius spoke up with a smirk. "I do know a guy who's interested in taking her to Hogsmeade."

Rose stiffened, staring up at him in disbelief and completely ignoring the flicker of shock darting across Albus' eyes. "Then why don't you go after her, Malfoy," she spoke coolly. "Seeing as you're so interested in all."

" _What_? That is so not what— _hey_! Where the hell are you going?"

Rose had jumped out of her chair so quickly that it had fallen backward and clattered to the ground as she ignored whatever excuse was on the tip of Scorpius' tongue and, like Alice, she stormed out of the restaurant.

And once again, the table was plunged into silence. This time it was Frank who broke the silence, clearing his throat curiously and saying, "What guy is interested in taking my sister to Hogsmeade, Scorpius?"

Scorpius put off answering the question by taking a sip of butterbeer, meeting the panicked expression on his best mate's face across the table from him. Scorpius suppressed the urge to smirk and simply said to Alice's brother, "Something tells me you'll find out soon enough."

* * *

 **Saturday, December 12** **th** **, 3:30 PM  
** **Hogsmeade**

"How did you know?"

Scorpius glanced over towards Albus as the two of them headed back to the castle an hour later. "About?"

Albus sighed. "You know what I'm referring to."

Scorpius hesitated before just admitting the truth. "Alice told me."

Albus stopped in his track, grabbing Scorpius' arm before he could walk further. "Wait, Alice _told_ you?"

"Yeah, it slipped out," he said with a shrug.

Albus frowned hesitantly. "I was under the impression she was all for sweeping it under the rug," he muttered.

"Oh, she was," Scorpius said with a chuckle. "But I forced it out of her."

"Oh."

"How long have you liked her, Al?"

The trademark Weasley blush filled Albus' cheeks. "Not long," he lied.

"How long is not long?" he snorted.

"Does it matter?" he muttered, turning and restarting their trek towards the castle.

It was Scorpius' turn to grab his arm. "Yeah, it matters," he argued, stepping in front of his friend and blocking him from walking any further.

"Apparently it doesn't," Albus snapped. "Because it's clear she doesn't feel the same way about me."

"She agreed to come with you to Hogsmeade today, didn't she?"

"Because she knew you'd be here as a buffer," he grunted. "It's the only reason she said yes and I just pretended I was okay with it because the idea of losing her as a friend hurts more than the rejection."

"But she didn't reject you."

"She would have," he blurted out desperately. "I just didn't want to give her the chance to do it. So if…if she wants to be friends, then I'll be her friend. It's fine. I'm fine with it."

Scorpius couldn't help but chuckle at the slight petulance his friend was exhibiting right now. "You can be so stupid sometimes, y'know that, Potter?"

Albus scowled at him. "Don't make me shove snow in your face."

Scorpius shrugged dismissively. "It's ironic that you're convinced you like her more than she likes you," he smirked, "Because she's convinced she likes you more than you like her."

Albus gaped at him. "That…that can't possibly be true."

"It is."

He blinked. "I told her a few days ago that I wanted to be with her and she told me she wasn't sure ruining our friendship was a good idea."

"Because she's so bloody scared you're going to break her heart!" Scorpius groaned. "It's what all birds are afraid of, mate."

"Right, because you're such an expert?" Albus muttered.

Scorpius glared at him. "I'm going to go ahead and bypass that comment," he drawled. "Look, I know very little about Alice Longbottom. Hell, I know very little about girls in general. But it doesn't take a genius to realize that all girls ever really want is to find a guy who will fight for them. You have to find a way to convince her that you're not like all the other guys who used her for a quick snog session and then moved on when they thought someone better came along."

Albus' jaw dropped slightly as if he couldn't believe what he was saying. "No one better could come along!"

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "For the love of Circe, tell _her_ that, not me."

Albus stared at Scorpius, unsure what to say or even think. "So…" he trailed off curiously, "I'm supposed to fight for her even though the last time I attempted to do that she made it seem as if she wasn't interested? Because one rejection wasn't enough?"

Scorpius frowned hesitantly, wondering when he suddenly became the love guru. He didn't hold much of an invested interest in either Albus or Alice's love lives and yet here he was, doling out advice on a subject that he would have thought he had little knowledge on. And once upon a time, he did have little knowledge on it. He never bothered to get to know girls or care about their thoughts or feelings and that made him lack any credibility towards the inner workings of their mind. But over the past couple of months he had become very attune to Rose's actions, so much that he could tell what she was thinking or feeling without her having to spell it out for him. Which was good because one of the things he picked up on was that girls were not good with the spelling out of their feelings. They hid the truth behind fake smiles and the classic words of "I'm fine" all while they stewed and ranted inside their minds. Both Rose and Alice were not an exception.

"Is she worth it?" Scorpius blurted out before he could stop himself.

Albus blinked, meeting the unexpected flicker of desperation in his mate's eyes. Nodding, he said, "Absolutely."

Scorpius decided not to comment on the goofy smile his friend was wearing. "Then I say you do everything you can to fight for her until she realizes she doesn't want to say no."

That goofy grin on Albus' face only grew. "When did you become so wise in the ways of women?"

He neglected to point out that it was all thanks to his cousin. "Since Alice decided to have a conversation with me about you," he teased, punching Albus playfully on the shoulder. "Now how about we get back to the castle so the two of you can start talking to each other and stop using me as your middleman?"

* * *

 **Saturday, December 12** **th** **, 5:30 PM  
** **Head Dorm**

Rose knew she should have gone looking for Alice, but she was unjustifiably angry and thought it would be better to cool down than provide her with an insincere apology.

She flopped on to her bed with a frustrated sigh, wondering why she was harboring unwarranted frustration towards her best friend. Rose knew Alice was just trying to help, wanting her to find a boy to settle down with who deserved her and who she deserved to be with. She and Alice had been friends since birth and all Alice was doing was looking out for her in the same way that Rose would always feel the need to look out for Alice. Except Rose hadn't exactly been doing a good job at it lately. She spent most of her time in the library or focusing on Head duties or at Quidditch practice and the little free time she had leftover was spent fooling around with Scorpius.

Scorpius. Who apparently had some sort of attraction to the same girl Rose was pretending to be annoyed with over her meddling. Pretending because if Rose were really being honest with herself, she'd admit her frustration towards Alice had little to do with her desire to set Rose up and everything to do with the spark of jealousy resting in her heart at the sudden developed comradeship between Alice and Scorpius. Unfounded jealousy. Fictitious jealousy. Jealousy that was all in her head because there was no way her heart could be involved. She had promised herself that it wouldn't be from the beginning and she was determined to see that through.

But then why did the mere thought of Alice and Scorpius together make her stomach churn?

She couldn't be sure how long she had been snuggling in her bed with only her thoughts to keep her company but she wasn't surprised in the slightest to eventually hear a knock at her door. She let out a low groan, tossing the covers over her head and praying to God that whoever it was (okay, she knew who it was) would turn around and walk away.

Evidently, God was not on her side that night.

She heard the door creak open followed by snort. "I hope this isn't your attempt at hiding because if it is, you suck at it."

Rose tossed the bedspread off her head to glare at him. "I don't remember inviting you in."

He shrugged. "When have I ever waited for permission?"

She glared at him. "Since you clearly didn't pick up on my subtlety, let me make it clear: _leave me alone_. I am in no mood to talk to anyone right now."

His lips pursed. "Mind telling me why?"

She rolled her eyes. "That would require talking, of which I just said I wasn't going to do."

He sighed, leaning up against the doorframe with a strained frown. "What's going on, Rose?" he asked softly.

"Nothing."

"Oh, so you insulting your best friend for no reason is a common occurrence for you?"

"Since when did you care about what happens between me and Alice?" she snapped. "Concerned about how she feels, are you? How uncharacteristic of you."

He blinked. " _What_?"

She glared at him, his ignorance making her angrier. "Whatever is going on between me and Alice should be none of your goddamned business," Rose snarled, a bit harsher than intended. "In fact, here's a newsflash for you, Scorpius: _nothing_ that I do or that involves _me_ should be any of your goddamned business."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, I'm not saying it should be!" he snapped in utter frustration.

"Then why the hell are you standing here?"

"I don't know!" he barked, his fists balling at his side. "I don't know why the fuck I'm standing here! I shouldn't be! I shouldn't give a shit about you but apparently I do!"

That threw her for a loop for a half second before she regained her composure. " _Bullshit_ ," she snapped, pulling herself out of bed and storming over to him in an attempt to stand her ground. "You don't care about me. The only thing you care about is when you're going to get your next orgasm!"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Oh, is that all we are to each other? A hookup buddy when the time is convenient?"

"That's all we're supposed to be to each other!" she reminded him and it made him cringe. "That's how we said it needed to be from the start. Nothing has changed."

He slowly shook his head. "Everything has changed, Rose," he spoke softly. "You can't honestly tell me you hate me anymore. I know I don't hate you."

She blinked cautiously, her heart beginning to race at the unexpected words. "Not hating each other doesn't mean we care about each other, Malfoy," she argued.

He gaped at her, the use of his surname causing him unexpected frustration. "Oh, so we're back to calling each other by our surnames, are we?"

"Evidently."

His fists clenched by his side, realizing just how irritated he was with the girl in front of him. Which only irritated him more because he had never cared much for anything a girl had ever said to him before until Rose came along. But he was standing at her door for a reason and as much as he had avoided admitting that reason, he knew that a part of him did care about her. And it was about time she accepted the fact that things _had_ changed between them. They had stopped insulting each other. They had stopped arguing with each other just for the sake of arguing. They had stopped challenging each other for no good reason. They started talking to each other. They started sharing secrets. They started trusting each other. And while he couldn't speak for her, he could confidently say that he started caring about her.

"Don't tell me I don't care about you, Rose, because I do," he said, making it a point to use her first name, "I don't know when or how it happened, but it did. At some point in the past three months, you stopped being the girl I tormented for pure pleasure and you became the girl I trusted. You became the girl I confided in. You became the girl I turned to when I was feeling down. You became the girl who had this way of making me feel better about myself. You became the girl I cared about. You stopped being Weasel and Weaslet and Weasley and you just became Rose. And for the first time in seven years, I stopped feeling like a Malfoy and just started being Scorpius. Because of you. So don't tell me that nothing has changed between us because everything has."

He turned on his heel and fled the room, frustration and anger and confusion filling his every thought. He could barely hear the words circling in his mind because his heart was beating so damned fast as he rushed through the common room and up the stairs to his own room, slamming the door behind him. He threw himself on to his back against the bed with a frustrated grunt, wondering why it bothered him so much that Rose was apparently mad at him. It's not like he did anything wrong. She was the one who went on a date with some guy and changed up everything between them. He was the one supposed to be mad at her.

Which only scared him more. Because he wasn't supposed to care about her. That had never been the plan. She was supposed to be the annoying girl he picked on for years who just happened to be one hell of a kisser. When did she stop being the annoying girl? When did everything change? _Why_ did it change? Everything was going so well and then suddenly it was as if something shifted between them. It was a slow shift but it was there. He stopped leaving her room the moment their hook-up came to an end. He held her in his arms and they drifted off to sleep. He spent the night in her bed. And he liked it.

 _When did everything change_?

He jumped when he heard the loud footsteps on his stairwell. Glancing towards the door, he watched as it was shoved open and a very angry Rose stood in the doorway with daggers in her eyes. "You don't get to say those things to me, Scorpius Malfoy! You don't get to tell me you care about me when for so long you told me you never would! You don't get to change things between us!"

"Things have already changed between us!"

"No!" she whispered desperately, shaking her head as panic settled into her expression. "You don't get to make me feel anything for you except irritation! _That's_ who you are to me! You…you have to be the guy who irritates me with everything you say and do. You have to be the guy I feel nothing for. You have to be Malfoy. You just…you have to."

Scorpius sat up slowly, a frown seeping into his expression. "Why?" he spoke softly. "Why do I have to be Malfoy?"

She felt her bottom lip trembling, everything inside of her filling with confusion. She hadn't been expecting Scorpius to tell her that he cared. She hadn't been expecting anything at all. That had been her mantra during their whole arrangement. No expectations, no feelings, no affection. He was just a guy.

Except he wasn't just a guy. He was the guy she never wanted to stop kissing. The guy that made her smile even in the most unexpected of times. The guy who she shared things with she had never shared with anyone else. The guy who made her feel special and wanted. The guy who made her believe she could be someone other than the Weasley the world expected her to be. The guy she stopped hating and started respecting.

But that had never been the plan. Never.

When did that plan change?

"Because if you aren't Malfoy to me," she whispered hoarsely, her heart beating a mile a minute, "Then who are you?"

He pulled himself out of the bed, standing by its side hesitantly. "I think only you can answer that," he spoke, his eyes bearing a hole through hers.

She said nothing at first, just staring at him and ignoring the loud thumping of her heart as a million thoughts ran through her mind. She wondered why she had gone after him, wondered why she felt so desperate to yell at him for telling her he cared. It was unexpectedly thoughtful and completely out of character for him that it threw her for a loop. She had been shocked and then confused and then ultimately angry because he wasn't allowed to care about her when _that had never been the plan_.

"We promised we wouldn't get any feelings involved," she spoke softly, her bottom lip trembling. "No hearts. No expectations. _No feelings_. Just lust. That's all this is supposed to be, Scorpius. _Just lust_."

He sensed the confusion in her words, which wasn't all that surprising since he had decided to tell her that he cared about her. He had believed his heart was made of stone all these years so even he was shocked to find out that someone had the ability to chisel it away. He had not been expecting to tell her that he cared but he couldn't stand the idea that she thought he didn't. He needed her to know that she was different than any other girl he had ever been with. He needed her to know that a part of him needed her. He needed her to know that they weren't the same people they used to be. Something had changed. He couldn't be sure exactly what had changed but something had. So much had. And now they were both trying to figure out what it was because that was the answer to moving past the weird limbo they had suddenly found themselves in.

He slowly made his way over to her, sensing a frightened burden in her eyes that he knew was reflected in his own as well.

"And what if that changed?" he whispered, reaching out and brushing a stray hair from her face. "What if it isn't just lust anymore?"

She dared herself to look up into his eyes, fear and desperation flickering within. "Then what is it?"

He could feel his heart beating rapidly against his ribcage at the mere thought that it could be anything more than lust. All he could do was stare at her, her lips irresistible and her cheeks flushed with tension and her eyes dancing with hesitation, knowing in the bottom of his heart that he wanted and needed her in ways he never thought possible. His heart ached with so much uncertainty, his judgment clouded with a whirlwind of confusion.

But he didn't have an answer to her question because he didn't know what it was. He didn't know what they were. He didn't know what to think or feel or do or say because he was treading in very unchartered territory. He just knew he didn't want her to walk out the door because he had a feeling that the moment she did, their time together would come to an end and that was the last thing he wanted.

"I don't know what it is," he admitted truthfully, slowly shaking his head. "But I think I want to find out."

And before she could respond, he kissed her.

Which was all she needed for the moment his lips crashed against hers, her arms snaked around his shoulders and she drew him into her, their mouths fighting desperately against one another's. It was unlike any other kiss they had experienced. This one held all of the answers in their hearts that they were too afraid to say aloud. It was heated and desperate and vulnerable and filled with an intensity that neither one had ever witnessed before.

His hands traveled down the side of her body and gripped her back tightly. He tugged faintly, their lips never parting, as he lifted her off the ground. Instinctively, her legs hooked around his waist, her stomach fluttering with overwhelming heat as his tongue traced the outline of her lips. Moaning, she titled her head back as his lips made a lusty raid down her cheek and towards her neck. He sucked and licked and nipped at her neck and loved every moan and mewl escaping her precious lips.

Carrying her in his arms, he shuffled over to the bed and gently placed her down against her back, capturing her lips with his once again as he climbed on top of her. She felt his arousal against her leg and let out a light moan at the mere realization that he was as turned on as she was. He pulled her sweater over her head, his eyes meeting hers with his usual impish smirk, before he brought his lips to hers once again. He trailed kisses down her jaw and her neck and her shoulder and her collarbone and perched a kiss on top of her breast, squeezing the other one over her bra with a gentle touch.

His shirt was discarded next, then her bra, and then both of their pants. She lay there in only her panties and he was on top of her with only his boxers. His mouth kneaded at her breasts, licking and swirling her nipples with his tongue as her fingers desperately tangled in his hair. He was quite sure he had never seen anyone as beautiful as Rose and that thought only stuck in his mind with every sound that came out of her mouth.

The heat grew between her legs with every touch of his lips against her bare skin. As his fingers grazed her stomach and hooked into her knickers, she felt her entire body squirming at the endless possibilities. She heard him chuckle, clearly aware of what he was doing to her, and she looked up with a warm smile. And as she did, she realized that she had never wanted or needed anything or anyone as much as she did him in that moment. It frightened her but only for a second before his fingers were dragging her knickers down her legs and tossing them to the side. He met her gaze and she reached up to frame his face with her hands as she kissed him. A simple kiss. A tender touch of the lips as if to tell him she couldn't imagine being anywhere but there.

Scorpius sensed the mood shift between them in that very second. He was no longer kissing her out of pure pleasure or sensuality. He was kissing her because he wanted to. Because he wanted her. Because they wanted each other.

He felt a rush of emotions fill his every vein at the very thought – his heart soared, his stomach pulsated, his mind raced, his eyes sparkled. All he could do to stop himself from exploding was lean over and press his lips hungrily to hers, knowing he couldn't be the only one feeling this way.

And he wasn't. The whole conversation they had, the intimacy of the moment, the shocking truth that they cared about each other hanging over their heads filled her heart with so much more than their usual lust. She didn't know what it was and while it felt scary it also felt very exciting. She didn't just want him, she needed him. More than she wanted to admit but it seemed as if Scorpius already admitted it for the both of them. So it was her turn to realize how much she cared about him.

"Scorpius?" she whispered in a light moan, tugging at his hair as his lips caressed her neck.

His lips remained where they were as he simply said, "Mm?"

She grew unexpectedly quiet and only then did Scorpius pull away, his eyebrows knitting on confusion. Was she second-guessing him? Was she not feeling what he was feeling? Was she no longer interested?

She slowly sat up, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as she brought her lips to his. Pulling away, she pressed her forehead against his and, staring into his puzzled green eyes, she whispered, "I want you, Scorpius."

With relief, he smiled, pulling her legs around him. She hooked them around his back and he leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers before saying, "I want you, too, Rose."

He reached over to kiss her again, but she pulled back before he could, whispering, "No, I mean, I want _all_ of you."

He froze, staring at her with slightly widened eyes. "Uh…"

She giggled, reaching up and running her fingers through his hair. "Not the response I was expecting when I just said I wanted to sleep with you."

"Rose…" he said hesitantly, his brow knitting with unexpected confusion. The girl he had been fantasizing about for months was telling him she wanted him to fuck her and he was hesitating. _He was fucking hesitating_.

He knew in that moment that Rose Weasley was different than any other girl he'd ever been with. Because not once did he ever consider their feelings or emotions or interest when engaged in any sort of sexual activity. Not once did he ever hesitate to have sex with any of them. Not once did he ever care.

Until now.

"I mean it," she whispered before kissing him chastely. "I wouldn't be saying it if I didn't."

He felt more confused than ever but all he could see was the desperation and desire in her eyes and it tortured his heart in powerful ways knowing that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. She wanted him to be her first. _She wanted him_.

He nearly came right there at the mere thought but he struggled to push that thought aside as he leaned over and kissed her with overwhelming ferocity. The kiss was so fervent, she fell back against the bed and he fell with her, their lips never parting.

Her hands were on the waistband of his boxers and instantly, she was tugging them off of him, his erection springing free. He felt his breath hitch at the very thought that in a moments time, he'd be buried inside of her. His lips still on hers, he let his fingers graze up her thigh before inserting a finger into her already wet opening. He let out a guttural groan at the same time she whimpered. He trailed his lips down her neck and her breasts and her torso until he was kissing her clit, watching as she squirmed underneath his touch. He inserted another finger, watching as her face flushed and her expression grew desperate while he pumped his fingers in and out of her.

He sucked and tickled and licked her clit, his fingers continuing to grind against her. He felt her body begin to tense around his fingers as she let out the most perfect combination of moans and whines. She had never felt anything like it. She was used to his fingers and his tongue but something felt different about that moment. As if they both knew this meant something more to them than any of the other times before.

It only took seconds before she was screaming his name out in pure ecstasy, her body convulsing so erratically it made Scorpius even harder, everything about that moment so perfect. She slowly came down from her high, her mind racing and her heart reeling with so much vulnerable anticipation for what was still to come.

"I swear you get better at that every time," she whispered, pulling her up towards him and pressing her lips to his.

He chuckled, shaking his head as he kissed her. "That may be the nicest thing you've ever said to me," he teased, his lips tickling against hers.

She grinned as their lips met again, their kisses hasty and sloppy as they relished in that moment. She felt her heart begin to race as they kissed like schoolkids, nervous and excited and anxious about what was going to happen next between them.

Scorpius felt her tense up and he pulled his lips away long enough to stare at her, his eyes bearing apprehension. "Rose, we don't have to-"

" _I want to_ ," she urged, running her fingers along his hairline as she stared into his eyes.

His heart tightened at the clear determination in her eyes. "Are you sure?"

She nodded, a slight smile tugging at the end of her lips. "I'm sure about you," she whispered, knowing that she meant it within the deepest crevice of her heart.

Those words excited and yet scared Scorpius. He was sure about her, too, but the idea of taking her virginity was something he had never anticipated. And once it happened, she wouldn't be able to take it back. He could see how sure she was about it, but the very thought sent so much trepidation to his heart and to his mind.

He had meant what he said to her. He really did care about her. More than he ever thought possible. More than he had ever wanted to. More than he had ever planned to. And in that moment where their naked bodies were pressed up against each other as they were seconds away from having sex, he knew that their entire relationship was about to change. They couldn't just say it was strictly casual. They couldn't say feelings weren't involved. They couldn't say that their hearts were kept out of their arrangement. They couldn't say it was just lust.

What it was, however, was still to be determined.

But instead of worrying about it, Scorpius merely leaned over and kissed her. She kissed him back, her hands running through his hair as their tongues fought against each other for dominance. But they both realized it wasn't about fighting for power anymore. It wasn't about who was in control. It wasn't about dominance. That moment was about two people coming together as one.

As Scorpius pulled back, he met the hope in her eyes and he smiled nervously as he reached over to the nightstand and grabbed his wand. He cast the Contraception Charm and was certain that her heart had to be beating as fast as his.

He nestled himself between her legs and watched her tense up, the smile on her face fading into one of uneasiness. He met her gaze and before he could say anything, she pulled her back off the bed and leaned up to kiss him. "I'm sure," she whispered, answering his question before he could even ask.

He smiled and kissed her again before slowly entering her. She let out a slight gasp of surprise and he immediately met her eyes, the concern resting in his own. She nodded her reassurance, a small smile tugging at the end of her lips. "Just…go slow," she murmured, trying to get used to the feel of him inside of her. It felt weird and awkward and yet amazing all at the same time.

He moved slowly, continuing to ease himself into her. Her body was tense and taut as he watched her shut her eyes. He leaned over and dipping below her ear, he whispered, "Relax, Rose. I'm not going to hurt you."

As if those were the magic words, she let her eyes flutter open and met the trust staring back at her. He kissed her and felt her body begin to relax and unwind. The feeling of pain she initially felt faded and it was as if in that moment, nothing else could ever feel so good.

He started to slowly move inside of her and she felt a moan fall from her lips as he continued to hit her in the right spot. Every detail was branded in her mind. The intense look in his eyes. The raw sounds coming from his mouth. His warm hands against the cool of her skin. The realization that they were in his bed tangled against his sheets.

She was lost in the sensation of him buried inside of her as she reached out and caressed his face. His neck. His shoulders. His torso. Her hands wandered all over his body, needing to feel every part of him as he began to move inside of her. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around his waist and thrust against him, matching his rhythm. He let out a guttural groan to let her know she was driving him completely crazy in the best way possible.

He had never witnessed anything so passionate and so unbelievably hot before. He was struggling to keep control as droplets of sweat trickled down his forehead. She was so wet and so tight that it was positively maddening. He continued to move slowly, knowing that any faster and he'd be gone in a matter of seconds. But he wanted and needed her to enjoy it. He wanted to give her what she deserved. He wanted to give her a memory she would never forget.

He heard the moans spilling from her mouth and felt her body squirming intensely underneath him. He slowly pushed her back down on to the bed, pinning her arms over his body with his hands as he let out his own agonizing moans. She felt so damned good. No one had ever felt as good as she did. He slowly began to increase his pace, sensing the desperation in her wanton panting.

He had considered the fact that she may not reach an orgasm as it was her first time, but the pleas and moans and whimpers spilling from her lips said otherwise. So he rocked his hips against hers and thrust in and out with the desperate hope that she could reach a climax before he could.

And suddenly she was beyond speech, beyond control, beyond thought, and everything inside of her exploded with an ecstasy she had never experienced before. She screamed out as she convulsed around him, her body becoming detached from her mind as she thrashed desperately against him. He was shouting, too, her orgasm a mere catalyst for his own, as he thrust one last time inside of her. Shuddering violently, he emptied himself inside of her with a series of uncontrollable whimpers.

He was drained, she was exhausted, and neither could move. They were covered from head to toe in a sheen of perspiration, struggling for breath as they clung helplessly against each other, that moment meaning more to them than they both even realized.

He felt himself softening inside of her and with another whimper, he lifted himself off of her and fell to her side. He reached out and cradled her against him, the both of them still searching for the energy that had been completely lost on them.

Eventually, when he felt as if he could actually breathe again, he leaned over and pressed a small kiss to her temple. It was an unexpectedly sweet gesture and Rose smiled. "So that's what sex feels like," she mused when she found the ability to speak. "I gotta say, I don't hate it."

He laughed, his body vibrating beside her as he drew her even closer into him. Something about her being in his arms felt so right and he wouldn't change it for the world. "I know sex isn't uncommon for me," he murmured guiltily, "But I gotta say, that was fucking incredible. _You're_ incredible."

She blushed as she glanced over to meet his gaze, sensing the sincerity in his words. "You really mean that?"

He smiled before kissing her. "I really mean that, Rose."

They both just lay there, still reeling from what just happened. Rose was no longer a virgin. Scorpius had his every fantasy come true. It meant everything to both of them. She had found someone who seemed to really care about her and he had found someone who gave him the ability to care. They were both happy and confused and nervous about what was to come. But that was a conversation for another time. Tonight, all they wanted to do was lay there in each other's arms and know that everything was perfect if even just for a moment. Because if there was anything that they could both attest to it was that perfect moments were fleeting.

They were both about to find out just how fleeting they really were.

* * *

 **A/N:** Aaaggghhhhh, and the pivotal moment has arrived! So now what's going to happen to them?


	12. Sting of Rejection

**A/N:** I love all of the positive feedback! I only do what I do because of you so thank you for sticking with me through all my stories. I had a couple of questions regarding how long this story is going to be. I think there are only going to be 3 more chapters plus an epilogue. So the end of this story IS winding down!

 **Disclaimer:** J.K. Rowling = not me.

* * *

 **A Different Kind Of Love Story**

By ByeByeBirdie

Chapter 11: Sting of Rejection

* * *

 **Sunday, December 13** **th** **, 7:00 AM  
** **Head Dorm**

When Rose stirred the following morning, it only took a few seconds for her to realize whose bed she was in and it put a smile on her face. Glancing around the room, she saw various articles of clothes strewn about. She had thrown on one of Scorpius' old T-shirts in the middle of the night but she was wearing nothing else and it made her feel weirdly sexy. She turned on her side, taking the time to stare at Scorpius' sleeping (naked) body. He was turned away from her, one leg stretched under the comforter while one of his knees poked out the side. She was well aware how incredibly gorgeous he was, his blonde hair falling around his face, a dreamy smile resting in his peaceful expression. She selfishly hoped that smile had something to do with her, which immediately wiped the smile on her own face away as she then immediately wondered what he thought about the two of them. She felt incredible, but what if it was just another night for him? What if it meant more to her than him? What if she had just made a huge mistake?

"Stop that."

Rose jumped, startled by the sound of his muffled voice. "Er…stop what?"

He let out a light chuckle as he turned to face her. "I can feel you staring at me," he said with a teasing grin, reaching over and brushing a strand of hair from her forehead. "With, I'm sure, a million questions running through your mind."

She hated that he could so easily read her. "No questions," she lied, shaking her head.

"Oh, so you're not wondering if just did something stupid?"

A smirk spread across her face. "Does that make you something stupid?"

He looked confused for a hot second before it dawned on him what he was trying to say. With a pout, he nudged her shoulder playfully. "Well, aren't you funny in the morning," he chuckled.

She laughed, laying her head back down against the pillow with a shy smile.

"On top of funny," he added with a smirk, "You look incredibly sexy in my old Appleby Arrows shirt."

She glanced down at the faded logo. "Yeah, sorry, I got cold in the middle of the night."

He shook his head. "Don't be sorry. You look far better in that shirt than I do," he teased.

She smirked, leaning in close to him, her head dipped right beside his ear. "So does that mean you don't want me to take it off?"

His eyebrow shot up. "I never said _that_ ," he argued, his hand grazing her stomach underneath the hem of the shirt.

She laughed, her stomach fluttering with the simple touch. He felt himself smiling, her laugh incredibly infectious. Here he was sleeping in his own bed with a girl for the first time in his entire life and he didn't hate it. It actually felt natural.

She felt his gaze on her as she fell back against her pillow, his hand sliding to the side of her abdomen. She glanced up at the ceiling, everything about that moment feeling so right. "Hm, this is different," she commented, pulling the blanket up across her torso.

"What is?"

She glanced around the room with a shrug. "Being in your room."

His eyebrow shot up, trying to read her expression. "Good different or bad different?"

She rolled her eyes at him before meeting the curiosity in his gaze. "I had sex with you last night, Scorpius," she drawled. "What do you think?"

He grinned at the reminder. It had been hard for him to fall asleep, their time together constantly running through his mind. It had been one of the most intense nights he shared with a girl and it completely blew his mind. He hoped that that night could be repeated over and over again.

"Ah, so I hadn't imagined that?" he teased, poking her in the ribs.

She swatted at him, a laugh escaping her lips. "No," she said with a shake of the head. "That was all real."

He grinned, reaching over and draping an arm around her body to draw her into him. "Good," he said before hastily pressing his lips to hers. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

She could have asked him what it had meant. What they were to each other. He could have questioned it himself. They could have both asked the questions they were both wondering. But neither wanted to ruin that moment. Neither wanted to admit the feelings in their heart and neither wanted the other person to make their feelings insignificant. They just wanted to appreciate each other for as long as they could before something came along to tear them apart. Because they knew something would. They weren't used to things going their way.

Rose felt her heart race as he kissed her. Scorpius felt so many emotions stirring inside of him as he pressed his body into hers. Everything in that moment felt so right.

And it scared them both more than anything in the world.

* * *

 **Sunday, December 13** **th** **, 10:00 AM  
** **Random hallway**

Rose knew it was time to do some damage control with Alice if she was ever going to be able to get her best friend to forgive her. She had been irrationally jealous of something that shouldn't have made her jealous. After the incredibleness that was last night, she knew that she had nothing to worry about when it came to Scorpius. It scared her to think that she had dropped the ultimate shield around her heart as she let him take her last bit of childhood innocence but she couldn't have imagined it either way.

"Stop that," she giggled as Scorpius pinned her up against a wall and led a trail of kisses down her neck. "Anyone could walk by and see!"

He grinned, lacing his hands with her as he shrugged. "Let them."

She shot him a look, lightly shoving him away from her. "The last thing we need right now is the entire world breathing down our necks."

He scrunched up his nose and pouted playfully. They hadn't talked about exactly what last night meant to them but he was more than okay to let that question lay unasked until he had a chance to figure it out for himself and he had a feeling Rose wanted to do the same. His head was reeling with so much confusion. He had spent his entire life squashing the possibility of letting himself fancy a girl. He refused to believe in relationships. He avoided the drama and heartache that came with it. But there was something different about Rose.

If only he could just figure out what.

"Speaking of necks," he smirked, reaching down and placing a light kiss at the base of her neck.

She let out a light moan as she drew her free hand into his hair, pulling him close to her. But only for a second before she caught up to her senses and pushed him back. " _Scorpius_ ," she whined.

He chuckled, reluctantly pulling away. "Fine, fine. What the lady wants, the lady gets."

She smirked. "What the lady wants is hardly hallway-appropriate."

"So what I'm hearing is we should head back to our Dorm and-"

" _No_ ," she laughed, shaking her head. "I have to go grovel to my best friend and you have to…actually, I have no idea why you followed me out."

"Isn't it obvious? I was hoping for hallway sex."

She shoved his shoulder but her laughter rang out through the hallway. "You're such a prat, Scorpius."

He dipped his head close to her ear and whispered, "That is not what you were saying last night."

She felt herself blush before instinctively pulling him close to her and pressing her lips to his in a moment of weakness. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she embraced him and held him tightly, wondering if life could get any better than that moment. "We'll have plenty of time for that later."

"Could you give me an estimated timeframe? An hour? Two? Five minutes?"

She laughed again, rolling her eyes as she pushed him off of her, glancing around the hallway to double-check that there was no one around. "It won't be five minutes."

"I really think you should reconsider."

She smiled at him, reaching her hand out and caressing his cheek. "Good things come to those who wait."

"I hope the key word in that sentence is 'come.'"

She squeezed his hand before dropping it from hers. "I think that can be arranged," she spoke coyly.

He grinned, pressing a chaste kiss to her cheek and saying, "Come find me when you get back."

She nodded, watching him as he practically skipped down the hallway out of sight. The smile on her face was undeniable. It practically hurt her cheeks. She couldn't remember a time that she was as happy as she was and it was all thanks to Scorpius. He made her feel like she mattered when for so long she didn't believe it herself. She felt so comfortable and safe with him that the thought should have scared her. And maybe a part of her was scared. But most of her was just excited to see where this could lead for them. It was exciting, it was new, it was scary, but most of all it was real.

"Well, well, well, who knew you had it in you, Weasley."

Rose jumped, glancing up as Leona Goyle stepped out from behind the corridor at the end of the hall. Sighing, Rose said, "What do you want, Goyle?"

She shook her head, slowly making her way over to the Gryffindor. "It's not about what I want. It's about what you want. And apparently you've become like every other lovesick prig in this school by wanting noneother than Scorpius Malfoy."

Rose froze, her mouth dangling open in shock. "I…I don't know what you're talking about."

Leona smirked. "Next time you don't want to be caught, I'd suggest not making out in the middle of a public hallway."

A string of profanities were tumbling through Rose's mind at the moment. If there was ever a person who would go screaming to the world that Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy, enemies at heart, were caught snogging each other it would be Leona Goyle. "What are the chances you're not going to tell anyone about this?" Rose pleaded.

Leona frowned, slowly shaking her head. "I'm not going to tell anyone about this," she said and Rose almost believed her. "I may not particularly like you, Weasley, but I know what it's like to feel the sting of rejection from Scorpius and I wouldn't wish that public humiliation on anyone."

Rose's brow furrowed. "'Sting of rejection?'"

"Well, yeah," she said with a curt shrug. "Based on what I heard, he's got you exactly where he wants you. Which means your days are numbered with him."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Just because he rejected you doesn't mean he's going to do that with me."

Leona let out a derisive snort. "I thought you were supposed to be one of the smart ones, Rose?" she said condescendingly. " _Of course_ that's what he's going to do with you! It's what he does with every girl he's ever set his sight on. You didn't actually think you were different, did you?"

Rose's heart constricted tightly at the mere implication because she had let herself believe she was different. She had to be. Scorpius wouldn't have gone to all the trouble he did just to sleep with her. He could have any girl he wanted. But he chose her because she meant something to him.

Leona's eyebrows shot up into her forehead with Rose said nothing, the answer to her question very evident in her expression. "Good Godric, you actually did think you were different, didn't you?"

Once again, Rose said nothing.

A frown danced across Leona's incredulous expression. "This is what he does, Rose," she sighed, shaking her head at her. "He makes you feel like you're the only girl for him when he has a rolodex of women on the side. He uses his Daddy issues to get close to you. He pretends not to believe in relationships or love so that when you do eventually let your guard down around him, you feel special. He starts to confide pieces of himself to you and he pretends to listen when you do the same. He commiserates and empathizes with you as a way of making you feel like he understands. He says you're the best he's ever had. He makes you feel on top of the world. He makes you feel like you actually fucking matter. And then he tells you at your most vulnerable moment that he cares about you more than he's ever cared about anyone else. Right before he rips your heart out and stomps all over it. _This is what he does_."

It was as if someone had just pulled the floor out from underneath her and she was just falling and floundering through the empty sky with no end in sight. There was an anvil weighing down her heart, pressing down so hard that she was certain her heart would burst. Every word that Leona spoke sent a jolt of agonizing heartbreak through her every vein. She didn't want to believe that Leona was right, but Rose knew in the bottom of her heart that she had been toyed with every step pf the way. Scorpius was accustomed to playing his games and Rose let him play her. And it tore her up inside. Her every limb was numb with pain and disbelief and shame and agony. This wasn't supposed to hurt so much. It felt like her heart was breaking all over again in the most painful of ways the way it had when she caught Cameron with Amanda, but how could that be when he never had her heart to begin with?

Only he did. She knew in that heart-wrenching moment – that moment where she realized that Scorpius Malfoy could never really care about her – that the promise to herself not to let her feelings get involved in her arrangement with Scorpius failed. She was aware of the irony. The horrible, unfortunate irony that the moment she realized she cared about him was also the moment she realized he would never feel the same towards her. She had become like every doe-eyed, giggly girl in the entire school who fell for the resident Bad Boy's charm. And he hadn't once deserved her attention. He didn't deserve her kisses. He didn't deserve her secrets. And he definitely didn't deserve her heart.

All Scorpius Malfoy had ever been and would ever be was a womanizing sexaholic who didn't know the meaning behind real feelings or emotions. Just because Rose had somehow become invested in their arrangement didn't mean that he had. And she was a total fool for thinking otherwise.

He had lied to her. He had lied to her for so many months. He told her about his father's neglect. He told her about his mother's abandonment. He told her about his grandfather's disapproval. He confided in her and then he used that against her. He told her he only did that because he cared.

Except he didn't care. He had told her from the beginning that he wouldn't care. He didn't believe in monogamy. He didn't believe in relationships. He didn't believe in love. And he didn't believe in her.

She felt the tears pooling her eyes and she didn't even bother trying to hide them. She didn't care if Leona was a witness to her humiliation. She didn't care that Leona would probably find amusement in it. All she cared about was Scorpius and the really unfortunate thing was that he'd never be able to care for her back.

"Oh, Rose" she heard Leona say with what actually sounded like compassion.

"Leave me alone," she whispered hoarsely, shoving past the Slytherin as the tears streamed down her face. She heard Leona calling out to her but she ignored her completely. She broke out into a run in a desperate need to get away from her and everything in that hallway. The hallway where Rose was just minutes earlier kissing and embracing and flirting with the man that had been playing her for three months.

She felt like such a fool. Because for a few hours she had actually believed she was different. She had actually believed she was special. She had believed that Scorpius actually wanted her for more than just a night of sex. So much of her had felt something for him and she had actually thought he felt something for her.

She couldn't have been more wrong.

When she couldn't run anymore, she felt her legs collapsing beneath her and she buried her face in her hands, letting the tears fall in pools down her cheeks. She hated herself for crying over him because he didn't deserve it. He was a manipulative liar who wasn't worth a single tear. But even though she knew in every crevice of her mind that he was a liar and a cheat, her heart was still catching up.

The heart that she had once promised herself she'd never give to anyone again after Cameron broke it.

As she sat hunched over on the cold floor with the tears pooling into her hands, she really wished she hadn't broken that promise.

"Rose?"

She jumped, desperately trying to wipe the tears as she glanced up towards the unexpected voice. "Haydn," she choked out, trying to throw a smile on her face. "Hey."

His brow furrowed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she lied as she struggled to pull herself off the floor. She felt lightheaded and dizzy and in a complete daze as she avoided looking at her fellow Gryffindor.

She stiffened when she felt his hand on her arm. "No, you're not," he spoke softly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she lied again, and he may have believed her had she not let a new stream of tears slip down her cheeks.

"Rose…" he spoke softly, placing his hand on her arm carefully.

The tears slid down her face as she turned up to look at him. "Remember when you said that when the right person comes along to put the pieces of your heart back together, you just know it?"

He blinked in surprise. "Yeah…"

"Well, apparently the only thing that came along for me was the wrong person," she whispered before a sob escaped her lips and she buried her face in her hands.

He was clearly surprised, unsure what to say or do with the sobbing girl in front of him. So he did the only thing he could think of. He reached out and embraced her, holding her as she cried into his sweater and refusing to let her go.

* * *

 **Sunday, December 13** **th** **, 10:30 AM  
** **Same random hallway**

Scorpius whistled as he chomped down on the chocolate chip cookie in his hand. He had taken a detour to the kitchens after splitting from Rose. They had skipped breakfast, and lunch wasn't for another few hours and he was also convinced he was able to think better on a full stomach.

If only he knew what to think.

Rose Weasley was unlike any other girl he had ever been with and he found it so alluring and intriguing. She challenged him and never backed down from a fight. She never batted her eyelashes at him or giggled to get his attention. She instead insulted him and reprimanded him. She never wore skimpy outfits as a way of drawing his eyes towards her rather attractive assets. She preferred to live in sweatpants. She was beautiful and she didn't even know it. Her eyes sparkled with mystery and her smile warmed up the room. He couldn't not think about her no matter how hard he tried. And he had definitely tried. He thought of all the conversations they shared. Ones he had never expected and yet truly appreciated. She understood him more than anyone ever had and she never had any problem telling him what she thought of him. For all the times he had lied to her, she had never once deceived him. He had always believed her to be uptight, but as he got to know her he realized how unexpectedly easygoing she was. She had never expected anything more from him during their arrangement. Not once. And considering how many girls had expected something from Scorpius when he just looked at them, it was oddly refreshing to find someone who was as laidback as he was when it came to fooling around. She had said numerous times in the past few months that their feelings and hearts weren't supposed to be involved.

Except his were. He knew they were. He just didn't know what it meant.

He liked being around Rose. Too much. And he couldn't figure out what his heart was saying. Because he knew it wasn't saying that she was just like any other girl. He knew it wasn't saying that he didn't care. He knew it wasn't saying that he felt nothing. He did feel something. He just didn't know how to handle it or what to think of it. There were so many questions that he didn't know the answers to. Hell, he wasn't even sure what the questions were supposed to be. He just knew there was something special about Rose.

He was still trying to figure out how he felt about her when he rounded a corner and stopped short when he saw Rose in the arms of Haydn Thomas. He quickly retreated, hiding behind the wall as he felt his heart begin to race at what he just witnessed.

He had forgotten all about Haydn. Hell, he thought she had, too, but apparently not.

And he suddenly realized that he was a total fool for thinking she had.

Everything suddenly fell into place. Everything suddenly made sense. Everything he felt about Rose suddenly didn't matter anymore.

Because never once had she made him think he meant anything more to her than just some casual hook-up. Not once.

He had told her he cared about her. She had said he was still the guy who irritated her.

He had told her it wasn't about lust anymore. She had said her feelings and her heart weren't involved.

He had told her that things had changed. She had said she felt nothing for him.

He hadn't asked her what the sex was supposed to mean because he thought they were on the same page. She didn't ask because she knew it meant nothing.

The only thing that had changed between them was that he was no longer using her. In the end, she was the one using him. She had her fun. She toyed with his emotions. She played him. He was just the guy she was fooling around with until the right guy came along. He shouldn't be mad at her. They had agreed all along it was going to be strictly casual. But something changed for him. And he told her that. _He told her that_. And she pretended that it mattered to her when it didn't. None of it mattered to her. It was all just a game to her.

Well, game over, Rose Weasley.

He was officially done playing.

* * *

 **Sunday, December 13** **th** **, 3:00 PM  
** **Head Dorm**

Rose never did make it to the Gryffindor Tower. She finally did escape Haydn with the reassurance that she was fine, though it was the furthest thing from the truth. She had started to head back to her room when she stopped short, knowing that the last person she wanted to run into was Scorpius Malfoy. So she wandered the halls like the zombie she was. She tried to think of anything but him, but it was a big failure. All she could think about were all the times she spent with him. The kisses. The laughs. The secrets. The touches. The sex. All of it that had felt so real to her was nothing but lies and deception.

She wanted to hate him but the only person she hated was herself for falling for it.

Muttering the password, she finally entered the Head Dorm with the intention of burying herself under her covers and never coming out again.

She would have, too, had Scorpius not been sitting on the couch when she entered.

She froze, staring at him as she ignored the loud pounding in her heart.

He barely looked up from the textbook he was skimming. "How'd it go with Alice?" he drawled in a tone that Rose could only describe as angry though she couldn't possibly fathom why.

Her fists clenched as she said nothing, striding over to her stairwell and heading up to her bedroom.

"That bad, hm?" he said. "Guess she realized you weren't worth her time."

She wished she felt anger. It would be so much easier if she could just yell and scream at him. But she felt nothing. She was too numb to feel anything. She was just hurt and upset and she didn't know how to be angry. And the fact that he sat there essentially telling her she wasn't worth anything just confirmed she was right in thinking he was a selfish prat who got what he wanted and now was ready to move on to his next victim.

Glancing over her shoulder, she only said, "Do me a favor and just leave me alone, Malfoy."

She rushed up the stairs and into her room, slamming the door behind her as she desperately tried to blink back the tears.

Scorpius sat on the couch, incredibly confused. She was the one who was playing him and she has the audacity to blow him off?

His confusion only grew when he thought about how numbly sad and defeated she had looked. He wondered what could have made her that way, thinking about Haydn or maybe it was something with Alice or-

 _No_. He wasn't supposed to care about her. He wasn't supposed to care what made her sad. What made her look so down. He wasn't supposed to care why she blew him off. _He wasn't supposed to care_.

Just like she didn't care about him.

Refusing to let her get in the last word, he tore off towards her stairs and took them in twos. He didn't bother knocking, opening the door and pouring into her room with a look of pure frustration on his face. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" he sneered. "For me to just leave you alone? Pretend none of this ever happened?"

She turned on her heel to stare at him, her eyes filled with desperation. " _Yes_ ," she pleaded. "Let's just pretend none of it ever happened."

He gaped at her in annoyance. Of course she was so willing to cast him aside. This is what she had always wanted. She hadn't expected him to care about her. But he told her that he did. And then she slept with him. That was supposed to mean something. Only it was all just some sort of game to her. That's all it ever was to her. But it meant something more to him. "And what if I can't do that?" he snapped. "You've finally gotten what you wanted all along. I told you I cared about you and it's as if you-"

 _"DON'T!_ " she screamed, her eyes blazing with hatred. "Don't you _dare_ pretend as if you actually meant it when you said you cared. _Don't you fucking dare_."

His eyes were now filled with surprise and anger and confusion. _What_ game was she playing now? Was she seriously trying to turn _him_ into the bad guy? "Is that what you think? That I don't care?"

"I know you don't," she sneered. "I'm just like every other girl you've decided to fuck with. I'm nothing to you. And you're nothing to me. Let's just leave it at that, alright?"

The fact that she was trying to convince him she was nothing to him was the most infuriating thing he had ever heard from her. And that was saying a lot considering the endless insults they've sent each other's way over the years. "Bloody hell, Weasley, I slept the night in your bed and let you sleep in mine. I fucking cuddled with you! _Me_!" he snarled. "Do you know the last girl I spent the night with? _No one_. Do you know the last time I cuddled someone? _Never_. I've only ever done that with you! So don't you dare tell me you're like every other girl because you're not!"

His words confused her, wondering why he was so set on trying to convince her he cared when they both knew he didn't have the ability to care about anything other than himself. He wasn't supposed to follow her into his bedroom. He wasn't supposed to be convincing her he cared. He wasn't supposed to be there at all. He was supposed to have just let her walk away. He was supposed to let that be it. Did he not like the idea of her putting an end to it? Did he need to be in control?

She realized it didn't really matter. All that mattered was getting him away from her as fast as possible. "If you think spending the night in someone's bed means you care, you are much more fucked up than even _you_ thought you were," she eventually snorted, shaking her head in disbelief.

It was a slap in the face and they both knew it. This was not at all the conversation he had been expecting to have with her. He had expected to call her out on her bullshit and he had expected her to deny it, to tell him that he was overreacting. Only he wasn't overreacting. She had been playing both him and Haydn Thomas and had no remorse about toying with their feelings.

His heart ached with pure anger. In that moment, he was certain he hated her. "Oh, _I'm_ the fucked up one, am I?" he spoke hoarsely, shaking his head at her. "What? Because I thought I didn't believe in love? Because I wasn't sure I believed in relationships? Because I had never believed in caring about someone before!? _Come on, Weasley_! You feel the same goddamned way even though you pretend you don't!"

Her eyes darkened. "You don't have a clue what you're talking-"

He cut her off. "You have _one_ bad relationship. _One_ broken heart. One complete jackass who takes away your ability to trust. And suddenly you're afraid to feel _anything_. You hide from the world and you hide from yourself because you hate what's staring back at you but you do nothing to rectify it because you're too scared to find out you could actually be somebody! You act like you're this strong, confident girl when inside you're screaming with insecurity! _Because of one fucking guy_. Now who's the fucked up one here?"

There it was. Everything he ever really thought about her. She was nothing to him. Just some pathetic girl who only decided to start hooking up with him because she was too afraid to be with anyone else. He didn't care about her. He never did. He never would. And she couldn't pretend that that didn't matter anymore.

She let out the breath of air she didn't realize she was holding, the tears suddenly collecting in the back of her eyes. No! She was not going to cry in front of him. She was _not_ going to cry in front of him. _She was not going to cry in front of him_. "Get out of my room and don't bother ever coming back," she spoke in a dangerously low voice.

"Oh, sure, you're allowed to insult me but the moment I insult you, you can't take it," he sneered.

Her eyes blazed with a kind of hatred she had never felt before. It was crushing every inch of her, making her feel hot with a type of explosive anger that filled her heart with so much agony. She ever thought one person could make her feel so overwhelmingly hurt. She especially never thought that that one person would be Scorpius Malfoy.

"Telling you you're fucked up isn't an insult, it's true," she sneered in a desperate attempt to shield the pain she felt in her heart. "It's not that you don't believe in love, it's that you're _afraid_ of it. Your father doesn't show it and your mother left you and instead of admitting that you're actually hurt by that you pretend like it doesn't matter because you've convinced yourself love is a lie anyway. But the truth it, _you're_ the lie, Scorpius! You say I hide from the world? You say _I_ hide from myself? Look in the goddamned mirror! You're so bloody afraid of people finding out you may actually have a heart that you pretend not to have one at all but that doesn't make you a better person, it just makes you dead inside. If anyone is insecure here, it's _you_. That's why you toy with any girl that even looks your way. You pretend they matter. You pretend they care. But you don't give a shit about anyone but yourself because you won't dare to feel anything towards anyone else when nobody ever seemed to care about you."

He couldn't believe what she was saying, his stomach clenching at the sheer ease of her insults. Every word she spoke was a dagger to his heart, the unexpected trust he had put into her now shattered. She was the one person he stopped being selfish for and she refused to see it. He didn't have to pretend she mattered because she really did. He had been afraid of looking inside his heart until she showed up and suddenly he was doing it without even realizing it. He had actually let his guard down in front of her, telling her all the things he had never told anyone, and now she was throwing it all in his face.

She wasn't the girl he thought she was. But he no longer cared.

He was certain he never felt so angry in his entire life. He had come to her room to tell her what he thought of her and instead, she was doing it with him. When did things get so royally messed up between them?

"Fuck you, Weasley" was all he could think of to say. "You don't get to be mad at me here. You're the one who changed the rules on us. We were doing just fine until you decided you were suddenly all ready for a relationship with Haydn fucking Thomas."

She wanted to slap him or punch or him or kick him out. She wanted to hurt him the way he hurt her. She wanted him to feel the pain she felt in the bottom of her heart. Maybe she had changed things up between them by going on a date with Haydn but he was only angry about it because he hadn't gotten the chance to ultimately humiliate her the way he was used to doing with the girls he was sleeping with. She had taken that control away from him and now he was there challenging her because that was all he was good at.

But he didn't get to bring up her willingness to date when she meant nothing to him. She was allowed to find a guy who could actually care about her. She deserved someone who believed in love and relationships and who wanted her for reasons that go beyond sex. She wanted that so badly. For so long, she didn't know what she wanted or needed. She didn't know what her heart was saying because she was afraid of listening to it.

And then when she finally did listen to it, it told her she fell for a guy who could never fall for her back.

He could never know how she felt. She could never let him see how much he had broken her. She couldn't show him how hurt she was. How he had mended her heart and broken it in the same weekend.

So there was only one thing left for her to do.

"I guess I'm the only one here who wants to find a way to stop being so fucked up," she spoke coolly. "One day I know I'll find a way just to be Rose without the Weasley. You, on the other hand, will _always_ just be Malfoy."

He took a step back in clear shock, the hurt in his eyes evident in the broken expression on his face. He said nothing, just staring at her as if he couldn't believe she just said those words. And he couldn't. She was the only person in the entire world who knew how much he hated everything that came with his surname. She was the only person who knew how much his heart ached when somebody reminded him what his father or his grandparents did during the war. She was the only person who seemed to understood how much it hurt to be born into the family he was born into. And she used it against him anyway.

He had been wrong before. _This_ was the moment he was certain he hated her.

Rose felt her body begin to tremble with guilt as she watched the shock staring back at her, but she didn't take the words back. She let them hang in the air, waiting for whatever Scorpius had to say to her.

Only he didn't say anything. He just turned on his heel and walked away, letting the betrayal in his eyes lead him out.

And only then did Rose let herself succumb to the tears she had been holding back ever since she walked into her room.

* * *

 **Sunday, December 13** **th** **, 2:30 PM  
** **Head Dorm**

Scorpius felt as if a thousand knives were stabbing him over and over and over again with no chance of relief. He felt as if a herd of giants had just trampled over his body and left him for dead. He felt as if his heart was bleeding into his stomach and there wasn't a potion out there that could relieve the pain. He felt broken. He felt defeated. He felt betrayed. And he felt pain. Nothing but pain.

He liked it a lot better when he thought of himself with having no feelings at all.

He couldn't get her words out of his head. It was stupid, he knew, to be so upset and angry over one sentence.

 _You will always just be Malfoy_.

Rose knew exactly what she was saying when she spoke those words. Because Scorpius had confided in her how much he was desperate to shed the Malfoy stereotypes. He had let his guard down around her. He had trusted her when he had never let himself trust anyone. He had let her see what he truly felt in his heart, not what he pretended to show to the world. And she had pretended to understand. Pretended to feel the same way. But if she truly did understand, she never would have used his family history and the Malfoy past against him as if it wasn't a huge slap in the face.

Lying in bed, he stared up at the ceiling wondering what it was about Rose Weasley that had his heart filling up with so much despair. She wasn't supposed to be anyone special. At least that's what he had always told himself. She was just a girl.

Except she wasn't just a girl. She was the girl he shared secrets with. She was the girl he spoke about his family to. She was the girl he spent the night with. The girl he cuddled with. The girl who slept by his side in his own bed. She was the girl he couldn't stop thinking about. The girl who put a smile on his face just by walking into the room. She was the girl who challenged him. The girl who made him feel like he could one day be somebody. She was the girl he unexpectedly let himself care about. The girl who understood his deepest insecurities. The girl who had the same insecurities. She was the girl who he never had to pretend around. The girl who made him feel like himself. She was the girl he had fallen for.

Scorpius froze. He couldn't move. Everything inside of him grew numb. Slowly and hesitantly, he sat up in his bed with wide eyes and hitched breath as his heart filled with overwhelming shock and disbelief.

"I fell for her," he whispered aloud to the empty room.

The words rang in his ear once again.

 _He had fallen for Rose Weasley._

But he wasn't supposed to have fallen for her. She was just supposed to be a girl. Just a girl. No one special. Falling for her hadn't been the plan. It had never been the plan. When did that plan change?

Was it when he first kissed her?

Was it when he told her he wouldn't lie to her anymore?

Was it when he told her about his father's pressure on him?

Was it when he told her about his mother leaving?

Was it when he first fingered her?

Was it when she first sucked his dick?

Was it the first time he called her Rose?

Was it when he spent the night?

Was it when he showered with her?

Was it when they slept together?

Was it when she slept in his bed?

Was it when he saw her with Haydn?

Or was it a combination of all of it?

Staring at the ceiling cracks, he knew it didn't matter when it happened. Because that moment right there where he lay in bed feeling the agony of a broken heart was the exact moment he had always wanted to avoid. After his mother left him and his father used him for his own agenda and his grandfather stopped caring and his grandmother died, he had never wanted to feel again what he had felt in every single one of those moments. When he had cried himself to sleep the first night he knew his mother wasn't coming back. When he had realized his father only had a kid so that he could change the meaning behind the Malfoy name. When every time he saw the disapproval and the disappointment in his grandfather's eyes. When he realized how much he was actually going to miss his grandmother, the only person that every seemed to care about him. He had told himself he would never let anyone into his life who had the ability to hurt him as easily as his own family did.

But at some point in the last few months, he had unexpectedly let Rose in.

And just like every other person in his life who cared about him, she found a way to cause him undeniable pain.

Once upon a time, he had lived every moment through his head because that was all he let himself do. Until she unexpectedly became a part of his life and suddenly it was his heart that was doing the talking. And he hated what it was saying. He hated that she changed him without realizing it. He hated that he actually cared about her when he told himself he'd never care about anyone. He hated that he didn't just want her but that he needed her. And he hated that with a single sentence, she gave him every reason to hate her, too.

Of course the one time he had to go and fall for a girl, she'd find a way to break his heart.

Wasn't this exactly what he was trying to avoid all those years?

Now more than ever he knew love truly was a lie. Because only a lie could hurt this much.

* * *

 **A/N:** Aaaaaaand right when things are starting to go so well, they go so wrong. Don't you just want to yell at both of them? He thinks she played him; she thinks he played her. And in their minds, the most humiliating thing that either one of them could do would be to admit that had real feelings for the other when they are under the impression that the other could never feel the same.

So how will this play out? Stay tuned...


	13. Bah Humbug

**A/N:** Well, I got a lot of mixed reviews on the last chapter, which I was absolutely anticipating. Yes, they slept together and then just a few hours later they were getting into an explosive fight with regretful words. He saw her talking to Haydn and made an unfounded assumption. She took Leona's word as truth without fighting it. But here's how I see it. They were both getting in too deep. Feelings were getting involved and that scared them more than anything. So they took the first opportunity they had to run in the opposite direction. Question is, will they ever find their way back to each other?

 **Disclaimer:** Nope, not J.K. Rowling. Only in my dreams.

* * *

 **A Different Kind Of Love Story**

By ByeByeBirdie

Chapter 12: Bah Humbug

* * *

 **Monday, December 14** **th** **, 7:30 PM  
** **Gryffindor Tower**

Her best friend was mad at her, her Head partner hated her, and she hated herself. To summarize, Rose Weasley's Christmas spirit was at an all-time low.

Rose hadn't had the heart or the energy to apologize to Alice on Sunday after her explosive fight with Scorpius. Since then, she couldn't do anything but cry into her pillow. Every time she told herself to get out of the room, the fear of running into Scorpius kept her hiding under her covers, hating herself for what she said and hating him for making her fall for him.

How could things go from such a high to such a low in just a few hours? She really thought he was different. She really believed he cared about her. She really thought they were happy together. But he was just very good at playing a part. He was just a very good actor. He was nothing more than that.

Monday morning came and Rose knew she had to set things right with Alice. Only, Alice avoided her every chance she had. She didn't show up in the Great Hall for breakfast, she sat next to Albus in all of her classes, she ate lunch with Albus, and she skipped dinner. By Monday night, Rose knew that the only way to get Alice's attention was to corner her.

Which is how Rose ended up outside the seventh-year Gryffindor girls' dorm for the first time that year.

She didn't bother knocking as she opened the door and peered in with the hope that Alice would be alone. No such luck.

"What are you doing here?" Alice sneered as she sat opposite Cadalyn Jordan on the latter's bed as they quizzed each other on Potions ingredients.

"Caddy, can I talk to Alice?"

"We're busy," Alice spoke coolly.

Rose sighed. "Alice-"

"If you had really wanted to apologize, maybe you should have considered it two days ago. Now if you don't mind, we were-"

"Talk to her," Cadalyn encouraged Alice, pulling herself off her bed.

" _Caddy_."

"I don't know what she said or what she did, but you two have never fought a day in your life. _Talk to her_."

Cadalyn shot Rose a wary look before sliding past her on to the landing, shutting the door to leave Rose and Alice alone inside.

"Just because Caddy thinks I should talk to you doesn't mean I want to."

Rose frowned, a sudden weariness sinking into her already feeble self. She had been exhausted all day, unable to pay attention in class and zoning out when anyone tried to talk to her. And now even though she was desperate to apologize to her best friend, it just felt forced. All she wanted was to be back in her bed buried underneath all the covers as a way of shutting out the rest of the world. Shutting out Scorpius. Shutting out her own feelings. And shutting out her broken heart.

She blinked back the tears threatening the back of her eyes as she glanced over at her friend. "I'm sorry," she whispered, the words sounding so desperate and shaky against her tongue. "I know it doesn't mean much, but I am."

Alice frowned curiously, hearing the uneasy despair in her friend's voice. Glancing up, the anger in Alice's eyes faded into unexpected concern as she swore she saw tears flickering in the back of her eyes. "No, it doesn't," she drawled. "Is everything okay, Roe?"

"Yeah," she lied.

Alice shot her a look of impatience. "I never pegged you for a liar, Rose Weasley," she drawled. "So either tell me what's going on or feel free to leave."

Rose went to shake her head but instead, she felt the tears building up inside of her eyes and before she could stop them, they were spilling down her cheeks.

"Rose?" Alice said, shocked. It was a rarity for Rose Weasley to show any sign of emotion. She always put on such an act of confidence pretending to be stronger than she really was. Alice was her best friend but had only seen her cry two or three times in the seventeen years that she had known her.

"I think I did something really stupid," Rose whispered as the tears continued to fall.

Alice pulled herself off Caddy's bed and made her way over to Rose. "What is it?" she asked hesitantly.

Rose whimpered, placing her head in her hands as she tried to catch the tears before falling. She didn't even know where to start. She didn't know how to explain. She didn't even know if she wanted to. She just wanted to go back in time and turn down Scorpius' advances. She wished she had just said no in the locker room. She wished she had hexed him or laughed in his face. She wanted to go back a year when they meant nothing to each other. When she hated him and he hated her. Hating him was easy. Caring about him wasn't.

She pulled her head out of her hands, looking at her friends with sad doe eyes. "I slept with Scorpius Malfoy."

Alice just stared at her. Said nothing. Did nothing. She just blinked once. And then twice. And then said rather calmly, "I'm sorry, I think I misheard you."

Rose shook her head slowly. "No," she whispered. "You heard me right."

Alice's jaw nearly dropped to the floor, her eyes growing wide in clear shock. "But… _what_!?" was all she could get out.

Rose's eyes shut tightly as she pulled her face into her hands, ignoring the tears as they continued to spill out. "That's not even the stupid part."

Alice blinked furiously, unable to process that her best friend was no longer a virgin and she had lost said virginity to her mortal enemy. "How is that not the stupid part?"

Rose brushed the tears from her eyes as she dared to look at the astonishment on her friend's face. "Because I also fell for him."

Rose was certain Alice's eyes were going to pop out of her head. Her jaw dropped and she could only stare, not a single word forming against her tongue. She didn't even move, flickers of shock and confusion and surprise and disbelief flashing across her blue eyes.

"Uh…" Alice finally spat out, "How?"

Hanging her head shamefully, Rose continued. "We've been fooling around for almost three months."

 _"What_!?"

"Strictly casual. Physical relationship only," she hastily added.

She continued to stare at her, the shock running furiously through her mind.

"It's why I haven't been around much," Rose continued to fill the tension in the air. "All my free time was spent with him."

"Well, that's one way to deal with stress," she drawled.

Rose couldn't even force out a smile. She let out a light sigh, dropping on to the edge of Alice's bed with a distressed frown. "This wasn't supposed to happen," she whispered, wondering _why_ she had to go and fall for the one person she shouldn't have. Her heart was in so much pain, but at the same time, Rose knew it was for the better. It was better that she ended things between him before she could give him the time to humiliate her. Because he would have. And it would have hurt so much more. No, the only way to handle things between them was to sabotage them first. She had done the right thing.

But that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

Alice's brow furrowed hesitantly, sensing such agony in her friend's defeated demeanor. "How _did_ it happen?" she asked softly.

Rose scoffed in bewilderment. "I don't even know," she muttered. "He snogged me on patrols one night to try and prove a point and…everything just escalated from there. To say we weren't getting along as Head Boy and Head Girl was an understatement so he thought instead of fighting each other, maybe we should put our mouths to other use."

"Oh, ew."

Rose shot her a look and Alice grinned sheepishly. "I mean, go on."

Rose shrugged. "There's nothing to go on about. We just decided to spend our free time hooking up with each other instead of fighting with each other. It seemed like a good idea at the time. After the whole Cameron thing, going with something that was casual and physical only just seemed right. But…"

"But what?"

The tears filled Rose's eyes again. "But at some point over the past few months, it turned into something more than just casual for me. I don't even know when it happened. Or how it happened. It just did," she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper as a tear slipped out quickly followed by another. "But of course out of all the guys I had to go and care about, it had to be someone who would never feel the same."

Alice frowned, slowly joining her friend on the bed. "Is that why you slept with him? Because you cared about him?"

Rose hesitated before shaking her head. "No," she whispered honestly. "I slept with him because I stupidly believe _he_ cared."

"What gave you that idea?"

She sighed. "Because he told me."

Alice's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Seriously?"

"He didn't mean it."

"What makes you think that?"

Rose could only shake her head, another round of tears spilling from her eyes. "I just know he didn't," she whispered as she thought back to her conversation with Leona. Scorpius didn't care about her because he could never care about anyone but himself. "I know who he is and caring about some girl isn't him. I fell for his act and it's too late to take it back. He won."

Alice reached over, placing her hand on Rose's shoulder consolingly. "Falling for someone isn't a game, Roe."

Rose said nothing at first as a fresh set of tears filled her eyes. She stared at the carpet, unable to face the sympathy she knew was in Alice's eyes. "It was to him."

Alice felt the defeat in those four words as if Rose was accepting the fact that whatever she and Scorpius were doing for months was nothing but some sort of chess match to him. And that's exactly how Rose saw it. He did everything he could to break the walls around her heart to get exactly what he wanted. And he got it. She gave him the one thing she had promised herself she wouldn't. She felt so foolish. How did she not see it before? How did she not realize all along that it was just an act? Everything he said and did was to benefit him. It had never been about her. Never. It had always been about what he wanted and how to get it. And she was an idiot for thinking it could be anything more.

"How did you come to this conclusion?" Alice asked. "Did he tell you this? Is that why you're upset?"

She first thought about the revelation that came out from her conversation with Leona before thinking about the aftermath between her and Scorpius. She was certain she would never forget the look on his face when she told him he'd always be a Malfoy. Rose had become rather accustomed to annoying Scorpius over the years but never once had she seen him looking so hurt. Never once had he ever looked so betrayed. Never once had she felt bad about what she said.

Then again, she never had feelings for him in the past.

"No," she murmured, shaking her head. "But he didn't have to tell me. I just knew."

Alice hesitated, a curious frown seeping into her expression. "Or maybe you just wanted to believe he doesn't care."

Rose's eyes narrowed. "Why the hell would I _want_ that?"

"Because the last thing you want after what happened between you and Cameron is to let someone into your heart just to have them break it."

Rose felt her heart tightening against her chest, turning away from the scrutiny in her best friend's eyes. The truth was, Rose did feel hesitant to let someone into her heart after what Cameron did to her. Only she already had unexpectedly let Scorpius into it. And he did break it. He broke it by being the guy who only ever said what he thought she wanted to hear, not what he actually believed.

"He already broke it by being exactly the kind of guy I always believed he was," she whispered, her eyelids filling with tears once again.

Alice saw the devastation in her friend's expression and it frightened her. Because when Cameron Zee had broken her heart, she refused to cry and wallow over him. She held her head high and put on the fake smiles. She pretended to be okay and kept herself busy. She was sad and heartbroken but she didn't show it.

But the brokenhearted girl in front of her wasn't trying to hide her remorse. It was on plain view for Alice to see and it sent a jolt of pure despair through her own heart.

"What happened between you two?" Alice asked softly.

Rose furiously blinked back the tears. "We got into a huge argument," she murmured. "I don't even know what he was saying half the time, but it didn't matter. We were yelling and screaming at each other. I said a lot of hurtful things. He said a lot of hurtful things. And then I said the one thing I knew he would never forgive me for because I couldn't let him know how much I care about him. Not when I know he doesn't care about me."

Alice glanced at her curiously, her lips pursing as she contemplated her friend's words. "Y'know," she murmured, "In my experience, people don't fight like that unless they care."

Rose wished she could have believed that. "No, he fights because that's all he knows," she whispered, shaking her head.

Once upon a time, Alice would have agreed. But she thought back to her conversation with him on Saturday. A conversation that showed a softer side to him. A side she had never witnessed before. He let his arrogance fade and spoke to her like a decent human being. He gave her advice and said some things that got her thinking. He seemed to take an interest. Was it only because they were talking about his best mate? Or was it more than that?

 _"Falling for someone is the easy part. Letting yourself love them is harder."_

His words rang in her ear now with an unexpected air of curiosity. Was there a chance that the words hadn't just been directed at her? Had a part of him been referring to Rose?

"Roe," Alice sighed. "What makes you think he doesn't care?" she repeated.

"Because he's Scorpius Malfoy!" she blurted out, shaking her head. "He doesn't care about anything or anyone. It's always been about him. For a short period of time, I thought things were different. But they weren't. He's still the same guy and I'm still the same girl. The only thing that changed were my feelings for him."

"Oh, Roe," Alice sighed. "It's okay to have feelings for him."

"No, it's _not_ ," she whispered hoarsely, shaking her head vigorously. "But I'm glad I figured it out now and put an end to us. I'll get over it. Him. He's not worth my tears and he's not worth the heartache. I'll move on. I have to."

Alice saw the desperation in her eyes, her friend needing to believe that Scorpius meant less to her than he clearly did. "But do you want to?" she asked softly.

The tears sprang to Rose's eyes again, slowly spilling out down her cheeks. "I have to," she repeated, the words shaky against her tongue.

Alice frowned, sensing a brokenness in her friend that she had never witnessed before. When Rose had stumbled across Cameron and Amanda, she was crushed. Alice saw it in her face. But Rose put on her typical fake happy smile and pretended as if she wasn't bothered by it. She didn't cry about it. She didn't talk about it. She just went on with her life as if she hadn't just had her heart broken. Now, Rose wasn't even pretending to hide how hurt she was. It was clear in her face and in her words and in her tears. She wasn't just crushed. She was destroyed.

"Oh, Roe," Alice whispered again, reaching out and pulling her best friend into her arms as she continued to weep.

"Why?" she moaned, the tears sliding down her cheeks on by one. "Why do I always choose the wrong guy? Why does this always happen to me?"

Alice wished there was something she could say but she knew Rose wouldn't listen. So she stayed silent, hugging her best friend and vowing to kill Scorpius Malfoy the moment she got the chance.

* * *

 **Monday, December 14** **th** **, 8:00 PM  
** **Slytherin Common Room**

Scorpius didn't know what he was doing in the Slytherin common room except that it was far away from Rose Weasley. Albus was muttering under his breath about his hatred for Transfiguration but Scorpius barely heard him. His own Potions notes lay discarded beside him. He stopped pretending to study long ago, knowing it was futile. The only thing running through his mind was Rose.

He kept going over and over it in his head and still, it made no sense. She had walked into the room looking so upset and defeated and it troubled him that he didn't know why. It troubled him more that the first thing she said to him was a plea to leave her alone. As if he had done something to her. And then she was yelling at him, convinced that he didn't care about her. _But he did_. She was the one who didn't care. She didn't get to be the one angry here. She did this to herself.

" _Scorpius_."

He blinked back to reality, glancing over at Albus. "Sorry, what?"

Albus let out a frustrated sigh. "What is with you today?" he grunted.

 _Nothing except that I slept with your cousin right before she screwed me over._ "Nothing."

Albus tossed his quill down and glared over at his mate. "Don't do that," he scoffed. "Don't tell me everything is fine when we both know it's not. You slept through breakfast. You barely took any notes in class. You've been distracted all day. So come on, what gives?"

Scorpius felt slight panic slither through his veins, wondering what he could say to avoid this conversation. Hesitating, he said, "What's going on with you and Alice?"

Albus' eyebrow shot up into his forehead. "What?"

"Did you two get a chance to talk after Saturday?"

Albus' head cocked to the side. "You're asking me about Alice?"

Scorpius shrugged. "I'm just wondering if things worked out between you two."

"You're changing the subject," he scowled.

"Yes, I am," he said with another shrug. "I really don't want to talk about me."

Albus' eyes narrowed curiously before he said, "We talked."

"And?"

A coy smile spread across Albus' lips. "I assure you, you don't want the details."

Scorpius snorted. "Ah, things got hot and heavy, did they?"

Albus swatted at his friend with a laugh. "Something like that."

An ache slowly seeped into Scorpius' heart. His so-called relationship had ended before it really even started. So at least one of them was happy.

All he said was "Well, I'm glad," though he felt anything but.

"So now that that's out of the way," Albus said hesitantly, "You want to tell me what's going on with you?"

Scorpius cringed. He should have known it wasn't going to be that easy to get the heat off him. "It's nothing," he murmured.

He frowned. "Is, uh…is this about the fact that the holidays are in less than a week?"

Scorpius blinked in surprise. Damn, he was so caught up in Rose he forgot to dread the holidays. "No," Scorpius admitted, leaning his head back against the couch cushion. "It's nothing. Really, Al."

Scorpius could tell that Albus didn't believe him but he was grateful when the subject was dropped altogether. He didn't want to think about Rose and he didn't want to think about the holidays. All he really wanted to do was focus on his essay and ignore the rest of the world going on around him. And then maybe, just maybe, he could somehow forget about the large ache in his heart.

Maybe.

* * *

 **Thursday, December 17** **th** **, 9:00 PM  
** **Prefect meeting**

The next few days were excruciating. Rose was avoiding Scorpius. Scorpius was avoiding Rose. Alice wasn't sure what to do or say. And Albus had absolutely no clue what was happening. But he sensed the change. He could tell with every word his friends spoke. With every step they took. He knew something was off. Rose was miserable. Scorpius was distant. And Alice was confused. And every time he asked any of them what was wrong, the unanimous response was "Nothing."

Rose barely left her room. She spent any time she wasn't in class hiding under the covers and ignoring the world around her. She hated what she said to Scorpius, but she had needed to push him away. She had needed to hurt him before she have given him the opportunity to hurt her. She had already been broken by one guy. She couldn't let another guy do the same.

Too bad it was too late.

Scorpius took a similar approach. He hid in his room because it was too hard going about his day like everything was normal when it felt as if his heart was crushing his soul. He ignored the pile of schoolwork on his desk and just lay in bed with a half-bottle of firewhisky as he stared at the ceiling and wondered where it all went wrong. He tried thinking about anything and anyone else but her face would inevitably creep into his mind. And no amount of alcohol could make that face disappear.

"If there are no further questions, we can adjourn this meeting," Rose spoke flatly to the prefects on Thursday night. "I wish you all a very happy holidays."

It was an appropriate comment seeing as the Hogwarts Express was leaving for London on Saturday morning at eleven. All anyone could talk about was their upcoming holidays. Everyone except for Rose and Scorpius.

Rose gathered her things without so much as a glance towards Scorpius who sat uncomfortably beside her while the prefects all filed out of the room. She could feel his eyes on her which only made the hole in her heart fill with more grief. She was so grateful for the upcoming holidays for the sole reason that she would get to have two weeks without the possibility of running into him. Maybe she could find a way to get rid of the heavy ache in her heart over those next two weeks. Maybe.

"Rose?"

She jumped, glancing up as Roxanne slowly made her way towards her. "Oh, hey, Rox," she murmured. "What's up?"

The younger Weasley frowned, chewing hesitantly on the inside of her lip. "Is everything okay with you?"

Rose's heart burned with despair as she tried desperately to ignore the guy sitting beside her. "Of course," she lied. "Why wouldn't it be?"

She frowned. "Well, Hugo and I have noticed that you just haven't seemed like yourself lately. You skipped practice the other night and-"

"I wasn't feeling well," Rose lied again. Truth was, she slept through practice and when Hugo had come looking for her she faked an illness to stop any suspicion from arising. "I think there's a bug going around."

Roxanne frowned. "You, uh…you also forgot to ask the prefects for assistance with the hanging of the Christmas decorations. Isn't that usually done this week?"

Rose swore under her breath. It was always the prefects responsibility to help with the holiday decorations around the castle right before the holiday break and she had totally forgot. "Everyone's been busy. I figured I'd head down to the Entrance Hall tonight and just take care of it myself."

Yet another thing she could add to the list of things she had no desire to do. Actually, the list of things she had a desire to do were quite small: sleep. It was the only time she didn't feel an overwhelming crushing sensation in every inch of her body.

"Well, Scorpius and I could help you. And I'm sure that-"

"No," she pleaded, shaking her head. "I can do it myself."

"But you don't have to."

"I want to," she urged, throwing on a fake smile. It was far better being alone than trying to interact with people when she knew she was so lost in her own thoughts to even hold a conversation with someone else.

Roxanne frowned. "Rose-"

"I'm fine, Roxy," Rose urged, though it was far from the truth. "Feel free to spread the word to my brother so he can stop worrying about me."

"But-"

" _I'm fine_."

Rose knew perfectly well that Roxanne didn't believe her but thankfully she said nothing more as she sighed and left the room.

"I can help you with the decorations."

Rose's entire body stiffened at Scorpius' words. "No," she said briskly. "I can handle it myself."

Scorpius frowned, recognizing the distress and burden in her eyes. But he couldn't understand why they were there. Or why she missed practice. Or why she hadn't seemed like herself lately. Or why she was neglecting Head responsibilities. She was the one who changed things up between them. She was the one who used him and toyed with his emotions. She was the one who got herself another boyfriend. She was the one who insulted him in the worst way possible. She didn't get to feel sad or guilty or hurt because she was the one who brought this on herself.

"Why are you acting so cross with me?" he questioned irritably. "You're the one who basically told me I was going to end up like my family when you're the only person in the world who knows that's the last thing I want."

She let out a frustrated sigh. This was not the conversation she wanted to be having at the moment. Or ever. "I'm not acting cross," she muttered. "I just thought you were a different person than the guy who used to harass me all the time. Turns out, I had been right to think you were a jerk all those years."

"Oh, good, more insults," he drawled with a roll of the eyes. "You say I'm the same person I used to be but you're the one who seems to thrive on judging me for my family's actions. I thought we had moved past that."

"We can't move past that when that's who you are."

He stiffened, the insult hitting him all over again. He suddenly wondered he even bothered to say anything in the first place. It was clear he meant nothing to her and what really sucked was that he didn't blame her for feeling that way. "For fuck's sake, I don't know why I even bother with you anymore," he sneered. "I want to be the bigger person here but what's the point when you don't give a damn about me?"

"And why the hell should I?" she whispered hoarsely. "When you have never _once_ given me any reason to? When you and I have been nothing but sworn enemies since the moment we stepped foot in Hogwarts? When all we have ever done is torn each other down and insult each other? When we've challenged each other and competed against each other for every single title? When you're nothing but spawn of Death Eaters and I'm nothing but a failure living in the shadows of my hyped-up hero of parents? Give me _one_ good reason why I should give a bloody damn about you?"

"Because maybe I don't think of you as that failure living in the shadows of your parents anymore!" he snapped.

She froze, blinking furiously as she stared at him. "What?" was all she managed to get out.

He frowned hesitantly. He hadn't meant to say that. He was getting dangerously close to telling her he saw something more in her. He saw a light in her eyes that was afraid to shine. He saw independence in her face that was afraid of breaking away from her family's ideals. He saw hope in her heart that was afraid of reaching for her dreams. He saw a girl who cared so much about other people that she often forgot to care about herself. And he saw heartbreak that she was dying to move past from.

But all she saw in him was a family of corruption and evil.

Sighing, he murmured, "Maybe I've gotten to know you and I'm able to give you more credit than that. Maybe you're not the same girl I once convinced myself you were. But I suppose you being the bitch you are, you could never get past my family's indiscretions, hm? Silly me for thinking we were actually starting to get along."

Her mouth hung open at the unexpected confession, her heart crushing her ribs with angst. But she said nothing, confusion and shock filling her every thought. She didn't get it. She really didn't get it. If he was just using her as a pawn in some game then why was he still fighting for her? Was it because he didn't like the fact that she had been the one to end it? Did he crave that control?

None of it made any sense. "Our family's indiscretions will always be there," she spoke coolly.

"That's rich coming from you," he snapped. "Considering you were the one who said we shouldn't let our parents' baggage define us."

"There is no us!" she cried out desperately. "There never was an us. There never will be an us. I don't know what you're trying to accomplish here but just… _don't_."

He looked taken aback, despair settling into his already frustrated expression. He felt so betrayed that his heart and his head physically hurt. He had never even seen it coming which was the worst part. He always like to be on his toes, one step ahead of anyone around him and not only had he not been one step ahead of Rose he hadn't even been anywhere in the vicinity.

"Screw you, Weasley," he eventually murmured, shaking his head at her. The pained look on his face wasn't one Rose was used to as she stared curiously at him, but she didn't know what to make of it. None of it made sense. He continued. "I don't even know why I bothered ever trying to get to know you when the only thing I need to know is that your heart is clearly made of stone. So just forget everything I ever said to you. Forget everything that's happened. Just…forget it all. I'm done."

He grabbed his bag and swung it over his shoulder before hastily vacating the room.

Once the door shut behind him, she couldn't hold back the tears anymore. He sounded so genuine. So sincere. As if he truly did mean it when he said he saw something differently in her. When he said he had wanted to get to know her. It didn't make sense. None of it made sense. Why was he even bothering? She gave him an out. She gave him a reason to walk away. So why wasn't he taking it?

A small part of her wanted to run after him. A small part of her wanted to apologize. A small part of her wanted to tell him she didn't mean any of it. But doing so meant letting down the huge walls that were currently built around her wall and the idea of doing so with Scorpius Malfoy was enough to keep her from chasing after him. He could never reciprocate her feelings. He could never care for her the way she cared for him. He had admitted too many times to count that he didn't believe in relationships and he didn't believe in love. So falling for him was a complete and utter mistake.

Too bad she had already fallen.

She felt the tears slide down her cheeks faster than she could wipe them away. Being around him in any way made it impossible to do or think about anything other than him. She couldn't hide the heartache even if she tried. There was something about him that had some sort of hold over her. One look at him and she was ready to break down. When she heard his voice, she felt as if her heart would explode. A whiff of his scent made her feel helpless. It had been like that all week. She felt completely powerless to him. As if she was nothing without him. She had never meant to fall for him. She had never meant for her heart to be involved. She had never meant to feel alive again. It had happened so suddenly and so unexpectedly that even she hadn't realized how he truly made her feel until it was too late.

In a way, he had healed her. But as quickly as that had happened, he turned around and broke her even faster.

And the worst part was she had no one to blame but herself.

* * *

 **Saturday, December 19** **th** **, 11:40 AM  
** **Hogwarts Express**

"Are you planning on ignoring me the entire train ride?"

Scorpius tore his eyes off the window and glanced towards Albus. "Sorry," he muttered, though he was anything but. "I guess I'm just ready to be home already."

Albus' eyes narrowed. "No, you're not," he drawled.

Scorpius cringed. In a way, Albus was right. Scorpius typically hated going home for any holidays. It meant his grandfather reminding him about pureblood domination and it meant his father ignoring him for days until he decided it was time to go into one of his rants that it was up to Scorpius to preserve the family name. There were days Scorpius went without talking to anyone. But this year, Scorpius was actually looking forward to getting away from the castle for a few weeks. Actually, he was just looking forward to getting away from one person in particular.

"What's going on with you, Scor?" Albus questioned with a heavy sigh.

"Nothing," the Slytherin lied.

Albus glared at him. "We both know that's a lie so just come out with it."

"There's _nothing_ going on with me," Scorpius snapped. "It's just been a stressful week and I'm glad to have a break from it all. Including your yappy whining."

Albus blinked in surprise. "My, aren't we in a pleasant mood."

Scorpius sighed regretfully, leaning his head against the back of the bench cushion. "Sorry, mate," he muttered and this time he actually meant it. "I'm just…" He didn't finish the sentence because he wasn't sure what he was. Drained. Hurt. Annoyed. Miserable. Heartbroken. Actually what he really was, was missing Rose. But he couldn't exactly say that.

"Did something happen between you and Rose?"

Scorpius stiffened, slowly turning to meet the warning in his friend's expression. "What makes you say that?"

"Because you've both been incredibly moody this week."

"Stress," Scorpius lied. "Head duties took a toll out of us."

Albus let out a frustrated sigh. "And that's all this is? The reason you're been snapping at me all week? The reason she missed Quidditch practice? The reason you both skipped out on several meals?"

"Yes."

Albus rolled his eyes as he pulled himself off the bench. "You should know by now that you can't lie to me," he spoke coolly. "And I'm really tired of you doing so."

As he left the compartment, Scorpius didn't bother asking him where he was rushing off to. And he didn't bother stopping him either. It's not like he could just come out and tell Albus that he had been fooling around with his cousin for almost three months and took her virginity the day before everything fell apart. That was a surefire way to earn himself a punch to the face. And it's not like it mattered anyway. Things were over between him and Rose. Albus didn't need to ever know that something was there to begin with.

Scorpius turned his head back towards the window, leaning up against it with a sigh. He was grateful for the solitude for the sole reason that it meant no more interrogation from Albus. But solitude also meant he only had his thoughts to keep him company and the only thoughts running through his mind were of a particular redhead.

He really had been under the impression that relationships and love weren't for him. And a part of him still believed that. He didn't want to give himself the chance of hurting anyone the way his mother hurt him by abandoning him or the way his father hurt him by not caring or the way his grandfather hurt him by not bothering to try to get to know him. He had always kept a tough outer shell on knowing that any sign of fragility would give people the opportunity to walk all over him and he liked to believe he could stand his ground. _His_ ground. Not the Malfoy ground. His own. He had grown up wildly independent, only being able to count on himself. He didn't put trust into a lot of people. Actually, he put trust into no one. Except for maybe Albus. It had been unintentional but at some point over the years, Scorpius realized he could rely on Albus and while that thought scared him, there was a bit of relief in knowing he didn't have to be completely alone. But he had never wanted to invite a girl into his mess of a world. And he had certainly never expected that girl to be Rose Weasley.

He saw her smile swimming in his head and all he wanted to do was grab her and hold on to her for dear life. Because the truth was, she had given his life meaning. Before her, he lived it because it was expected. He did what he had to do to survive the days. But then Rose came along and it wasn't about surviving anymore. It was about living. She made him feel like his life meant something. She made him smile when he least expected it. She made him laugh even in the darkest of times. Just one look from her and it was as if nothing else mattered. And her kisses were mesmerizing far beyond anything he had ever experienced before.

He wanted to be with her. But he knew he couldn't. She didn't want to be with him and even if she did, she deserved to be loved by someone who knew what that entailed. And it was that thought alone that made him hate himself for ever letting his heart get involved.

All these years he thought he lacked a heart. As it turns out, it was just waiting for Rose.

And all she did was break it.

* * *

 **Saturday, December 19** **th** **, 12:10 PM  
** **Hogwarts Express**

Rose's eyes slowly opened and it took her a few seconds to realize she was still on the train. She had fallen asleep almost immediately upon entering the compartment, much to Alice's protests, and had hoped that the next time she awoke, she'd already be on the platform. But only an hour had passed.

Glancing around the compartment she realized she was alone, but she made no effort to go search for Alice. Alice had tried cheering Rose up but nothing seemed to work. The only time Rose didn't feel like her heart was exploding out of her chest was when she slept, her thoughts unable to haunt her then.

She was shutting her eyes again when she heard voices outside her compartment. It only took her a few seconds to identify them as Albus and Alice who appeared to be conversing with each other in very hushed tones. She normally wouldn't have given it a second thought but she was certain she heard her name mentioned once or twice.

Reluctantly, Rose picked herself off the bench and tiptoed towards the glass wall in an attempt to eavesdrop.

"-something happened between Rose and Scor," Al muttered.

"What makes you say that?" Alice questioned.

"Because they're both acting weird. He's snapping at anyone he comes into contact with, she's ignoring everyone. It can't be a coincidence that they're both acting distant at the same time."

"I think you're reading too much into this."

"I know I'm not."

Rose was grateful that her best friend was smart enough to keep her mouth shut about Rose's confession earlier that week.

"Well, Smart Guy, what are you so convinced happened between them?" Alice said.

"I don't _know_!" he whined. "And it's driving me mad."

A chuckle escaped Alice's lips. "My guess is neither one is admitting anything's wrong, hm?"

"Well, I haven't had any chance to talk to Rose because she's been completely MIA this week. And Scorpius keeps telling me nothing is wrong even though he is aware I know he's lying. Have I mentioned that they're both driving me mad?"

Another chuckle. "Maybe what they both need is two weeks away from each other."

Rose prayed that was true.

Albus sighed. "Ugh, don't remind me that we'll be spending the next two weeks apart," he muttered.

Rose blinked, the comment slightly unexpected.

"Not the whole two weeks," she reminded him. "I'll be there for Christmas Eve dinner. And I wouldn't miss your epic New Year's Eve party."

"It's James' epic party," Albus drawled irritably. "And Christmas Eve is a week away."

"Then come visit me in Diagon Alley," she encouraged. "I'll be working day shifts at the Leaky Cauldron."

"I'll try to get away," he encouraged. "But my parents seem to love shoving quality time as a family down our throats during the holidays. Like I really want to spend any more time with James than I have to."

"I think the day might come where you'll miss him," she giggled.

"You take that back!"

She only laughed, quickly followed by a squeal. "Argh, stop, you know I'm ticklish!"

Rose could hear the smirk in Albus' chuckle. Alice's laughter died down quickly before Albus said, "Have I ever told you how much I love your laugh? I don't think I'll ever tire of hearing it."

Another comment that had Rose's eyes narrowing in confusion.

"Oh, stop," she chuckled. "You're making me blush."

"I like that I can make you blush," he teased.

"I'd rather you spent your time doing other things with me," she responded in a soft whisper.

"Well, that could be arranged," he whispered back.

It registered then with Rose that something was definitely going on with Albus Potter and Alice Longbottom. It was confirmed seconds later when she heard very distinct kissing noises right outside her compartment.

Disbelief filled every inch of her mind. Here she was nursing her own broken heart and her two best friends were sneaking around behind her back. Before she could even register what was really happening, she forced the compartment door open and spilled into the hallway to stare horrified at the snogging couple.

Albus and Alice jumped apart almost immediately, guilt registering on both of their faces as they stared at Rose in shock. "Rose!" Albus sputtered, his eyes growing wide. "This…this isn't what it looks like."

"Oh, really? Because it looks like my two best friends were just snogging."

He hesitated. "Okay, so it is what it looks like."

"How long has this been going on?" Rose snapped, so many thoughts swirling through her mind.

"Not long," Alice urged. "We made it official on Saturday."

"A whole bloody week and neither of you bothered to mention it?"

"Oh, and exactly when was I going to mention it to you?" Albus snorted. "You've been completely MIA all bloody week."

"Don't you dare turn this around on me," Rose snarled, an ache filling her heart unexpectedly. She couldn't be sure if it was because she just found out her two friends had lied to her or if it was because seeing them snogging brought back unfortunate memories of her times with Scorpius or if it was because Albus mentioned her disappearing act for the week or if it was because watching anybody snog forced a hole into her heart. Or maybe it was just a combination of all four. "You said you made it official on Saturday. How long has it been _unofficial?_ "

Silence filled the corridor.

" _How long had this been going on_?" Rose snapped.

"Two months," Albus blurted out. "Since you've been so busy this year, Alice and I have hung out with each other quite a bit. It just…it happened. That's all."

"Two bloody months!?" she shrieked, not caring what first years were around to hear her swearing. "Was there _ever_ a time you thought of mentioning it!?"

"We didn't even know what ' _it_ ' was," Alice muttered. "We were waiting to figure that out before announcing it to the world."

"I'm not the world. I'm your best friend," Rose grunted. "Or at least I thought I was."

" _Rose_ -"

"No," Rose whispered briskly, cutting Alice off. "I don't want to hear it. I am so sick and tired of feeling as if the people I put my trust into are the ones who ultimately let me down. Just…do what you want. I don't care. But keep me out of it."

Rose spun on her heels and rushed off in the opposite direction, ignoring their cries of protest behind her.

Now she was trapped on a train with three people she was desperate to avoid.

Merry freaking Christmas to her.

* * *

 **Saturday, December 19** **th** **, 1:00 PM  
** **Hogwarts Express**

"Rose, can I please talk to you?" Alice said, hovering in the doorway of the compartment where Rose now sat with Roxanne and Louis and their handful of friends. The two of them had been confused when she came barging into their compartment and said she was spending the rest of the train ride with them, but when both Alice and Albus had attempted to talk to her and she brushed them off, they both realized that the trio was in some sort of fight.

"No."

"If you don't talk to me in the hallway, I'll talk to you here and something tells me you don't want me saying what I have to say in front of your cousins."

Rose pulled her gaze away from the window and glared at her. "Do you really think threatening me is the best way of getting me to talk to you?"

"For the love of Circe, just _talk_ to her!" Roxanne groaned, shooting her cousin a look. "I am tired of Alice and Albus sticking their heads into our compartment and interrupting us."

"Yeah, I'm all for just banning you from this compartment altogether," Louis muttered.

"And a bah humbag to you, too, Lou," Rose snapped.

"Roe, I just need five minutes of your time," Alice pleaded.

" _No_."

"Three minutes?"

Rose glared at her friend just as another figure stepped up behind Alice. "Er, should I come back later?" said Jax, glancing towards Roxanne.

"No!" Roxanne urged, jumping up from the bench with a slight scarlet in her cheeks. "Rose was just leaving. You can have her seat."

"What?" Rose responded in disbelief. "You're seriously kicking me out? Your own cousin for a _boy_?"

"Yep, up and at 'em, Rose."

Rose stood there dumbfounded, ignoring Louis' snickers beside her, before hastily jumping to her feet. "I hope you get coal for Christmas, Roxy."

Roxanne shrugged as she pushed Alice out of the way, grabbing Jax's arm and dragging him into the compartment. She shoved Rose out of the door and closed it behind them.

Rose frowned, glancing at Alice irritably before she took off down the corridor.

"Don't you think that maybe it's not me you're really angry with!"

Rose stopped in the corridor before whirling around, a glare etched into her irate expression. "And _what_ the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"This isn't about me," Alice murmured. "This is about Scorpius."

" _No_ ," she snarled. "This is about how you and Albus _lied_ to me!"

Alice sighed. "Don't hate me for saying this," she murmured. "But do you think it's possible you might be jealous? That Al and I may be happy when you're not?"

She digested her friend's words carefully before glaring at her. "I sat in your room on Monday night and spilled my guts out to you," she whispered hoarsely. "I told you all the things that I had been keeping from you, all while you sat there with your own goddamned secrets! I don't feel jealous, Alice, _I feel betrayed_!"

"It wasn't anything until last weekend," she pleaded, shaking her head. "We just stupidly snogged once a few months ago and we've been skirting around it ever since. But he made me see that I wanted to be with him. He wouldn't take no for an answer. This all happened on Saturday, Roe. And then you came to me on Monday crying over Scorpius and I thought it would be in poor taste to tell you about Al."

"Don't do that," Rose argued huskily, drowning out the sounds of nearby chattering students. "Don't patronize me. You had all week to tell me. Don't use Malfoy as your excuse why you didn't."

Alice frowned hesitantly. "I'm sorry" was all she could say.

Rose shook her head. "You don't get to be sorry," she argued. "Not after you lied to me for two months and then had the audacity to accuse me of being jealous. None of that is okay."

"Oh, but it was okay for _you_ to lie to _me_ for three months?"

Rose blinked. "Yeah, and last I checked, I told you everything on Monday," she snapped. "And besides that, this is you and Albus! My best friend and my cousin who I've known since the day I was born! So you don't get to make me feel guilty for being angry because I have that right."

"Rose-"

"Just stop, Ace," Rose hissed, her fists clenching at her side as she felt unexpected hot tears rushing to the back of her eyes. After everything that had happened that week, the last thing she wanted to deal with was the betrayal from her best friends. Why was everything going so wrong? "I don't want to hear your excuses. I don't want to hear any of it. Just…go find Albus because I'm done with this conversation."

She turned on her heel and rushed off down the corridor, ignoring Alice's cries after her as she felt a few tears slide down her cheeks.

Finding the closest loo, she slipped into it and let the tears fall. She never thought she'd be one of those girls sitting alone in the loo crying her eyes out but that's what her life had come to. She trusted Scorpius and she trusted her two best friends and they all just let her down. Everything that had once made her happy now made her feel so incredibly empty.

As she sat in the enclosed loo with the tears streaming down her face, she realized that she had never felt so alone in her life.

* * *

 **Saturday, December 19** **th** **, 5:00 PM  
** **Platform 9 ¾**

"I still think she overreacted."

"Yes, we know exactly what you think, Al," Scorpius muttered, rolling his eyes as he traipsed off the train behind Albus and Alice. "But do you blame her for being a bit miffed? You two are her best friends and she caught the pair of you snogging. Not exactly what she had planned for the day."

"Something tells me her attitude had little to do with us," Alice spoke coolly, shooting Scorpius a look before wandering off into the crowd.

Scorpius frowned. All train ride, Alice had made little comments that made Scorpius aware that one way or another, Alice had found out about the ex-arrangement he shared with Rose. But if Alice wasn't going to bring it up to him, he was more than willing to feign ignorance.

"What do you think Alice meant by that?" Albus questioned curiously.

"Once again I reiterate that I know nothing about birds and probably never will," Scorpius snorted. He scanned the platform for all of a few seconds before verifying that his father was nowhere to be found. Looks like he'd be finding his own way home.

"You need a ride?"

Scorpius glanced over at Albus with a shake of the head. "Nah, knowing my dear Pops, he's just waiting out in the parking lot. Doesn't want to get all misty-eyed over our reunion."

They both knew it was a lie.

"Well, have a good break, mate," Albus said, reaching out and tapping his fist against Scorpius'. "We'll see you on New Year's Eve, right?"

Scorpius weighed his options. Showing up at the Potters on New Year's Eve meant possibly running into Rose. Not showing up meant another night sitting alone in his house turning into a raging alcoholic. "Yeah, I'll be there," he said.

Scorpius grabbed his trunk and headed towards the platform barricade, smirking as he watched Albus rush after Alice. Albus had eventually told him the long drawn-out story of how Albus stood outside the Fat Lady portrait for two hours before Alice finally decided to grace him with her presence. She said nothing, just listened as Albus said he couldn't imagine his life without her and he'd be standing outside the portrait every day to remind her how much he wanted to be with until the moment she finally caved. She shut him up with a kiss.

It would have been romantic if Scorpius wasn't in the most unromantic of moods. Watching the two of them share in kisses made his stomach churn. Noticing the look of adoration in Albus' eyes as he looked at her caused aching pangs in his heart. The way her eyes lit up every time he squeezed her hand had Scorpius wishing he was anywhere but there.

He just hoped that two weeks away from Rose was exactly what he needed to get over her.

On the other side of the platform, Rose spotted her parents chatting beside the rest of the Weasley Crew. Ginny was absent but Harry was there chatting with George and Bill. Percy stood there as well talking to his wife.

Rose was happy to see that Albus was nowhere to be seen as she grabbed her trunk handle and wandered over to her family.

"Rose!" George greeted, the first to spot her coming their way. "Happy Holidays!"

She forced out a smile. "And to you, too," she said with a nod. She met her mother's eyes which were beaming down at her, a warm smile resting on her face. And for some inexplicable reason, that simple smile had Rose wanting to rush into her arms and bawl her eyes out, the feeling of needing her mother hitting her like a bolt of lightning to her heart.

"Hi" was about the only thing she trusted herself to say as her mother reached out and embraced her.

"Happy Holidays!" she greeted and all Rose could do was hug her back as she desperately blinked away the tears she felt collecting in the back of her eyes.

Her mother stiffened slightly, taking a hesitant step back as she glanced down at her daughter. "Is everything okay?" she asked softly.

Rose nodded, forcing yet another strained smile on her face. "Of course," she lied.

Rose could tell her mother wanted to question her further but she was interrupted by Hugo skipping up to the ground with Lily on his heels. "Mum!" he said, crashing into her with a goofy grin.

Hermione laughed, embracing her son, though she never let her gaze falter from the clear misery on her daughter's face. "And a good afternoon to you, too, Hugo. Have you grown taller?"

"Probably," he said with a shrug.

"Where are the rest of your cousins?" Bill asked as he scanned the platform for his son, Louis.

"Roxanne is probably snogging her new boyfriend," Lily interjected.

"She's _what_?" George scowled.

"Lucy was chatting Frankie's ear off about last night's Chudley Canons match."

"Atta girl," Ron teased.

"Louis is probably trying to sneak his firewhisky stash into his trunk."

" _Come again_?" Bill scoffed.

"And Albus is most likely avoiding Rose because apparently those two are fighting according to him."

The whole group looked quite interested in those words as Rose glared at Lily. "Stay the fuck out of it, Lily."

" _Language_!" Hermione scolded her daughter.

Rose rolled her eyes and reached for her trunk handle. "I'm heading to the car. I'll just wait for you all there."

"Now, hold on a second," Ron said, grabbing the end of Rose's trunk and pulling it out of her hands. "Why are you and Albus fighting?"

"Because he's a backstabbing prat, that's why," she drawled.

"Rose-"

"I'm going to the car," she snapped, not bothering with her trunk at all. She knew her father would grab it anyway. She rushed off into the crowd, ignoring the protests from both her mother and father, and set her sights on the barrier. She was already through it before realizing she actually had no idea where the car was. So she was forced to just settle on heading towards the parking lot and hanging out in the general vicinity until her brother and parents made their way after her.

She was halfway to the parking lot when she caught sight of Scorpius perched on a bench with his legs propped up over his trunk. Her heart ached at the sight of him and she found herself just staring at him, watching as he shut his eyes and rubbed his temples, a deep frown protruding across his expression.

Her curiosity got the better of her as she made her way over to him. "Looking to make it as a Muggle?"

Scorpius jumped, his eyes fluttering open slightly as he glanced up at the redhead he was just trying to rid from his mind. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for my father to pull the car around," she lied, not wanting to admit that she booked it away from them the moment she could because she couldn't bear being around anyone.

"He drives?"

She shrugged. "Your turn. What are you doing here?"

He wasn't about to tell her he wasn't ready to apparate home yet. "My father got caught up talking to some people."

"I didn't see him."

"Then you weren't looking hard enough."

She could see the frustration in his eyes that pretty much told her he was lying but seeing as she didn't want to get involved with a conversation with him, she simply shrugged. "I hope you have a good break, Scorpius," she muttered before walking off.

"Do you?"

She hesitated, glancing over her shoulder. "What?"

"Do you actually hope I have a good break?" he snorted. "Or do you really not care?"

Her fists clenched at her side. "I'm not doing this again with you," she sighed. "I'm done arguing."

"I already said I was done on Thursday. Which begs the question why you're even over here to begin with."

She felt the tears stinging in her eyes at the clear hatred coming from his tone. "I came over here because it's clear your father forgot about you and I actually felt sympathy. I'll refrain from feeling anything towards you in the future."

She didn't stick around to hear his response as she spun on her heels and stormed off towards the parking lot, ignoring the tears that were spilling out of her eyes. It was as if she couldn't go a few minutes without crying all thanks to a guy who she should never have given a single thought to. And now all of her thoughts surrounded him.

Scorpius frowned at her as he watched her walk away, his stomach twisting at her gut-wrenching words. It was just yet another dig to prove to him that she cared nothing for him.

He had never been looking forward to going home more than he did in that moment.

* * *

 **Saturday, December 19** **th** **, 5:20 PM  
** **Malfoy Manor**

Scorpius wandered through the foyer of his home, dragging his trunk behind him. He dropped the trunk at the bottom of the stairs and headed towards the study where he knew his father would be.

Tapping on the door, he slowly opened it. His father glanced up, a smile resting on his face. "You're home!"

"It would appear that way," the boy responded.

"Is it really that time of year already?" he chuckled.

"Five o'clock on the Saturday before Christmas," he drawled. "The same time the train has been pulling into King's Cross for the past six Christmases."

"Er, yeah," he said with a grimace. "Sorry, I must have been caught up with work."

"It's fine," he murmured with a grunt. "That's what apparating is for, right?"

"Right," he said with a nod. "So how has your year been?"

Scorpius shrugged. "Fine."

" _Fine?"_ Draco replied. "That's it?"

"What more is there?"

"It's your last year, son," he reminded him. "Tell me about classes and Head Boy duties. Or Quidditch! I was so proud of your win over Gryffindor. Or are there any girls in your life? Leona Goyle perhaps?"

With every word he spoke, Scorpius found himself getting more and more wound up. He didn't want to talk about classes or Head Boy duties because it only reminded him that he had gotten through most of his stress by fooling around with Rose. He didn't want to discuss his win over Gryffindor because it brought back memories of the kisses he shared with Rose in the locker room just after that game. And he definitely didn't want to talk about Leona Goyle because she wasn't Rose.

Everything reminded him of Rose. He hated it. He hated her. And he hated his father for pretending to care about his life when he was only interested in hearing how Scorpius was going to better the Malfoy name. And the last thing Scorpius wanted to do was feel like a Malfoy.

"Like I said," Scorpius muttered through gritted teeth, "Everything's fine."

Draco sighed. "Well, I was hoping we could use some of your break to discuss your future plans," he said, leaning back in his chair. "Graduation is looming nearer. I've put in a good word at-"

"Dad, I really don't want to talk about this," Scorpius pleaded, thinking about that reserve position on the Wimbourne Wasps. That was the first conversation he had ever shared with Rose that made him think of her as a human being and not the devil.

 _Dammit_. He was thinking about Rose again.

"We have to talk about this, son," Draco sighed. "You are graduating and what you do after graduation is going to determine the rest of your life."

"So then what the hell have I been doing thus far?" Scorpius snorted.

"That was a stepping stone. We still have work to do."

Scorpius' clenched his fists. "'We?'" he muttered. "Last I checked, this is my life, not yours."

Draco's eyes narrowed curiously. "Your life is my life. I only want the best for you."

"Well, I hope the best for me right now is unpacking because that's what I plan on doing," Scorpius said with a shrug as he turned on his heel and headed out.

He wasn't surprised when his father didn't call after him. Neither one of them wanted a fight and when it headed down that path, they always found a way to bow out easily.

Scorpius hated how formal his relationship was with his father. If he could even call it a relationship. He always felt like he was just yet another one of his father's business transactions. A father was supposed to love and support a son, not run his life for him.

Then again, at least his father was still around. He couldn't say the same for his mother.

It should have brought him closer to his father since they were all they had left, but it just put more distance between them. His mother was always the buffer between them, scolding their father when he became too rigid and reminding Scorpius that his father loved him even if he sometimes didn't come off that way. Without her, there was no one to bridge the gap between them. And at some point in the past few years, that bridge disappeared altogether and it was only left with two people living on opposite sides of the world.

He shook thoughts of his father from his head. It did no good for him to try and understand his father's actions. It only ever made him more frustrated and at that moment, he was already at his wit's end with frustration all because of one Rose Weasley.

He let out a groan. Why the hell couldn't he go longer than few minutes without thinking about her? He had had years of practice when it came to forgetting girls. Then again, no one was ever as memorable as Rose was. There wasn't another girl in the world who kept his attention for longer than a few minutes except for Rose. There was something annoyingly special about her. She was pretty and didn't even know it. She was the only person who ever challenged him. She understood all too well what it was like living up to the standards set for you by the world and your own family. She spoke to him like a person and not like the son of a Death Eater. She knew when he was bullshitting and when he was being real. A part of him hated her for knowing him so well but he could only blame himself because he let her into that world that he had never let anyone else see before.

But maybe he would have been better not letting her in at all.

Scorpius levitated his trunk up to his room and shut the door behind him. Staring down at the trunk, he sighed and ignoring it, he fell back against his bed.

Staring up at the ceiling, he suddenly became aware how eerily quiet it was. Too quiet.

He had hoped that two weeks away from Hogwarts and Rose would be the answer, but how was he supposed to stop thinking about her when there was nothing else to do?


	14. No Such Thing As Love

**A/N:** I am a horrible human being for making you all wait so long. I've just been so busy that I haven't had even a few seconds to myself until today. But here I am with the next chapter so let's jut put the past in the past.

 **Disclaimer:** J.K. Rowling owns everything Harry Potter related. Me, I just use her for inspiration.

* * *

 **Different Kind of Love Story**

By ByeByeBirdie

Chapter 13: No Such Thing As Love

* * *

 **Thursday, December 24** **th** **, 4:00 PM  
** **Weasley Household**

Rose knew she wasn't fooling anyone. Her mother was extremely worried about her. Hugo was telling anyone who would listen that she was depressed. Her father was at a loss of what to do. Albus had tried stopping by and Rose threw a shoe at him. Her older cousin, Molly, attempted to drop in for a visit but Rose had gone for a long walk into town and had missed her. Alice tried stopping in a few times and Rose refused to see her. A round-bellied Victoire tried to take Rose out to lunch but she said she wasn't hungry. Uncle Harry popped in to check on her but she said nothing. She had turned into a zombie. One without feelings or a care in the world. She hated who she was turning into but it was as if her will to smile had been taken away from her and she wasn't sure she'd ever get it back.

She had tried getting out of Christmas Eve dinner but that's where her mother put her foot down. She basically told Rose that whatever was going on with her was no excuse to skip out on nearly thirty years of Weasley tradition. Hermione told her that one day Rose would look back and feel sad about missing out on her favorite time of year and while Rose was unfortunately inclined to believe her, she said nothing as she headed back upstairs to pack an overnight bag.

Christmas used to be her favorite holiday. And she loved the infamous Christmas Eve dinner with her family and friends. The Potters' living room was expanded to hold up to fifty people and it was one big party. She laughed with her cousins, sang Christmas carols at the top of her lungs, stole a glass of wine or two with the older cousins, and rang in Christmas with the best people she could imagine spending it with.

But she was hardly in a laughing mood. Christmas carols were the last thing on her mind. Drinking wouldn't be able to numb her pain. And while her family was still full of the best people she knew, she much preferred to spend the night by herself.

She headed down the stairs and into the kitchen but stopped when she realized her parents were talking about her.

"I'm really worried about her, Ron."

"I know. Me, too. But she won't talk to us. She won't talk to anyone. What are we supposed to do?"

Rose peeked into the kitchen and saw her mother in her father's arm, the tears stinging in her mother's eyes. Which only made Rose feel worse about herself.

"I hate that she's shutting us out," her mother spoke. "She's never done that before."

There was a long pause before her father spoke again. "She has. She didn't speak to us about what happened between her and Cameron. We had to get the information from Albus."

Rose scowled from where she stood. She had to have a chat with Albus regarding keeping her private information private.

"So, you think this has to do with a boy?"

"I don't know, Hermione," he father spoke softly, the worry in his voice sending more guilt through Rose's heart. "Albus said she wasn't seeing anyone so I guess is has to be something else."

Rose really needed to have that talk with Albus.

"Well, it has to be more than stress," Hermione spoke again. "We've seen her stressed before. Do you remember her O.W.L.s year? I thought she was going to explode she was so wound up. But she wasn't unhappy. This…this new side of her? She just seems really unhappy."

Rose felt her heart plummet into her stomach. Of course she was unhappy. The guy she had feelings for could never care about her the same way she did him. And she had made sure of that.

"Maybe Christmas with the family is the answer," Ron spoke, though the hesitance in his voice told Rose even he didn't believe it.

"You really think so?"

Silence filled the room. Sighing, he eventually said, "Well it's got to be better than holing herself up in her bedroom all week."

"I think she was asleep this week more than she was awake," her mother murmured.

"I wish she'd talk to us."

"Me, too," her mother responded tearfully.

"What are you doing?"

Rose jumped, whirling around as Hugo ventured down the stairwell. "Shh!" she pleaded, shooting him a warning glare.

His eyebrow popped up. "Eavesdropping, hm?" he whispered.

She sighed, bringing her hand up to rub her temples. "They're talking about me. It's nothing new. Everyone's talking about me."

"Of course they are," Hugo drawled irritably as he folded his arms across his body. "This side of you is far from the Rose anyone is used to. And since you refuse to talk about it with anyone, we are all forced to talk about it amongst each other."

She glared at her brother, wondering when he became so confrontational. She liked him a lot more when he kept to himself. "Why can't everyone just leave me the hell alone?" she snapped, well aware that their voices were carrying into the kitchen now. It was only a matter of time before her parents would walk out and silence their fight.

"Because we're worried about you and don't you dare say we shouldn't be because we are your family and that's what we do. So just because you're so set on isolating yourself from everyone doesn't mean we're just going to allow it," Hugo sighed bitterly. "You may think you're all alone but you should know by now that when you're a Weasley, you'll never really be alone."

"Maybe I'm sick and tired of being a goddamned Weasley!"

" _Rose_ ," her father scolded as he appeared in the hallway.

"You don't mean that," her mother urged.

Rose whirled around to glare at them. "I do mean that!" she argued desperately. "This family doesn't seem to know the meaning of the word boundaries and it's driving me mad! You don't think I realize that it was you who sent Uncle Harry over here to talk to me? You don't think I realize that it was Dad who begged Molly to drop in? You don't think I realize that the only reason Albus bothered to come here and make some half-assed apology is because Hugo pleaded with him? You don't think I realize that Victoire stopped by because one of you made her? Let's get one thing clear right here and now: what's going on with me is _my business only_! So just stay the hell out of it! And feel free to spread the word to the rest of our nosy family."

Her parents stood there in astonishment while Hugo stared at her irritably, saying, "Excuse us for caring, Rose."

"If you really care about me then just leave me the hell alone," she snapped at him, not bothering to stick around to hear them try to justify themselves. She rushed off towards the fireplace, much to her parents' protests, but before anyone could stop her, she grabbed a handful of floo powder and flooed to Potter Manor.

She stumbled into the sitting room and rushed off towards the kitchen, praying there would be some firewhisky or wine lying around she could pilfer.

"Rosie!"

She froze, forcing a smile on as she reached over and hugged her grandmother. "I swear all of you get taller every time I see you," Molly Weasley said with a welcoming smile. "Word around the house is that you've had a rough year. Is everything okay?"

"Oh, for Merlin's sake," she groaned under her breath. "Everything is fine, Grandmum. Don't believe everything my meddlesome cousins tell you."

"Meddlesome?" she repeated with a chuckle. "I like to think of it as love, dear."

Rose let out a rather cynical snort. "There's no such thing as love," she muttered before turning on her heel and walking away. The last thing she needed was her grandmother preaching the power of love to her when Rose was far from feeling loveable.

Rose knew she'd have to face the cavalry at some point and while she was in no way prepared to do so, she took a deep breath in and wandered into the kitchen. Scanning the room quickly, she noticed twenty-year-old Fred and nineteen-year-old James laughing by the cheese platter alongside family friend and James' bandmate twenty-year-old Caleb Jordan. Standing by them and watching in amusement was twenty-year-old Augusta Longbottom. Caleb's parents, Lee and Katie, were nearby chatting with George and Angelina and beside them was Victoire and Teddy holding three-year-old Dora. Even her goddaughter's giggles couldn't put Rose in a good mood.

"Rosie Posie!"

Rose groaned as she glanced over at James who abandoned the cheese platter and made his way over to his cousin with Fred. Caleb Lee and Augusta Longbottom were right on their heels. "Don't call me that," Rose urged.

He shrugged, pulling on her ponytail like he often did when greeting her. "How goes life, my favorite cousin."

"I am hardly your favorite cousin," she drawled with the roll of her eyes, swatting him away. James seemed to love getting under the skin of his younger cousins and Rose was no different. Like Albus, she wasn't his hugest fan. And because of that, he thrived on picking on her.

"Yeah, that's true. That title goes to me," Fred smirked, rushing Rose and embracing her tightly, lifting her off the ground with a grin.

"Geroff me!" she shouted. "Dammit it, Fred Arthur Weasley, put me down!"

He smirked but obliged, earning himself a smack to the head. "Why is it every time James and I tried to pop in for a visit you were out?"

"I strategically planned it that way."

"Nonsense," James said dismissively. "Your love for us is endless, Rosie Posie."

" _Stop calling me that_."

"Only when you tell us what's got your knickers in a twist."

"Right now, _you're_ the reason," she barked.

James and Fred exchanged a curious look, clearly sensing her unusual hostility. "Oh, c'mon, Rosie," James whined, poking Rose in the ribs. "Tell Cousin Jamie what's wrong with you."

Rose only glared at them, wondering if she could get away with hexing them without anyone noticing.

"Ignore them," Augusta said to Rose, smacking James in the stomach. "They're hopped up on firewhisky and cheese at the moment."

Rose hesitated. "Is there firewhisky around here somewhere?"

"Not anymore," Augusta muttered, glaring at the other two.

Rose frowned, defeat settling into her heart.

"You're looking good, Rose," Caleb commented with a slight smile, cocking his head to the side curiously. "How have you been?"

She glared at him before turning her gaze on her two cousins. "Will everyone quit worrying about me?" she snapped.

Caleb's eyebrow shot up. "Er…it was just a question."

"No, it was a question you only asked because I'm sure these two heard through the grapevine that I've been rather unpleasant lately. But that's nothing compared to what my attitude will be if I get asked that question _one more time_!"

"Rose!" a voice belonging to Teddy said as he wandered over with Dora in his arms. "I thought that was you. How've you been, kid?"

She let out a rather loud grunt of frustration, throwing her arms in the air, before turning on her heel and heading towards the living room.

"Er…was it something I said?" she heard Teddy utter in confusion before she rounded the corner out of earshot.

"There you are, Rose," a familiar voice spoke and Rose fought the urge to groan as she glanced over her shoulder as her mother came up behind her. "Can we talk?"

"No," Rose pleaded, shaking her head. "How has no one gotten it through their heads that I'm not interested in talking?"

"Oh, I've gotten it through my head," she spoke firmly. "But this isn't you, Rose. Lashing out at me and your father. Hating on your family. The mood swings. Sleeping all day. Refusing to speak to anyone. I'm worried."

"You don't need to be," Rose murmured through gritted teeth. "I'm _fine_."

"No, honey," her mother whispered, shaking her head. "You're not."

It took everything within Rose not to just burst into tears there, hating herself for worrying her mother so much when all her mother ever did was love and care about her. But she couldn't tell anyone about Scorpius. She didn't want to anyway. It was in the past. He was in the past. She just wanted to move on. "Mum," she whispered softly, "I know you're worried about me but there's no reason for you to be."

"I'm your mother," she said with a sad smile. "It's my job to worry."

"The Department of Magical Law Cooperation will be so sad to hear you found another job."

Hermione frowned. "Rose, please tell me what's going on. Let me help you."

Rose could only shake her head, begging the tears not to fall. "You can't," she murmured. "No one can."

She swiftly turned on her heel and scurried off towards the living room, ignoring her mother who called out after her. Trying to put all of her nosy family members behind her, she piled into the already-crowded living room where an argument was currently taking place between Albus and Lily.

"He's still too old for you!"

"Two years is _nothing_ ," Lily snapped at her brother, stomping her foot petulantly. "Teddy is two years older than Victoire! Roberto is three years older than Dominique! Bill is _seven years older_ than Fleur!"

"I don't care about any of them, I care about _you_!"

"Oh, please, you don't care," she snarled. "It just makes you uncomfortable because the guy I'm dating happens to be your age and you think you know what all guys your age are thinking."

Rose couldn't help but smirk as Albus' ears turned pink. But before he could comment, their father was interjecting. "I think it might be best if we retire this conversation," Harry said with a sigh. "It's been ongoing since you two stepped foot in this house for the holidays and frankly, my ears are getting tired of hearing it."

"You can't _possibly_ condone their relationship, Dad!" Albus argued.

"Lily is old enough to make her own decisions," he said. "Do I like the idea of her dating a seventeen-year-old? Not particularly, but-"

" _Dad!_ " Lily groaned.

"-I can't stop her from dating him."

"Sure you can! You're Harry freaking Potter! You can get anyone to do anything! Just throw him into Azkaban or something and we'll call it a day!"

That had the entire room breaking out into laughter and Rose took that time to look around and assess the crowd. Dominique was on the couch, her head against Roberto's shoulder. Alice was in the corner talking to Cadalyn Jordan while Frankie Longbottom and Lucy talked beside them. Nearby was Hannah Longbottom, Fleur and Percy's wife, Audrey Weasley. Louis and Roxanne occupied another couch with Hugo and fifteen-year-old Maya Finnigan next to them chatting with the Scamander twins. Maya's father stood a small distance away as he held a conversation with Dean Thomas and his wife, Edie. Haydn and twenty-five-year-old Rider Thomas were there holding polite conversation with Rolf Scamander. Ginny was standing beside Ron and Hermione as they all watched Harry in amusement, though Rose's grandfather was laughing the hardest.

"I'm pretty sure I can't throw a teenager into prison just because he has eyes for a younger woman," Harry said with a chuckle.

"Hell, if that was a law, Azkaban would be overrun with teenage boys," Ron chimed in with a smirk.

"Good. Maybe that'll keep them away from my daughter," Percy spoke up, his eyes narrowing curiously at Frankie. "Don't get any ideas, Longbottom."

"Technically, Lucy's a month older than Frankie so the law wouldn't apply to him," Hannah Longbottom said with a laugh.

"Oh, I'll make it apply," Percy teased.

" _Daddy_ ," Lucy groaned, shaking her head. "Stop embarrassing me!"

"I think the only ones who should be embarrassed are Albus and Lily for causing a rather unnecessary scene," Ginny sighed, shooting them both a look of warning. "If I so much as hear Wes' name one more time out of either of your mouths, I'm sending you both to your rooms without Mum's delicious Christmas pudding."

"Oh, great, so now I'm not allowed to even talk about my boyfriend all because Albus is a jealous freak who can't manage to land himself a bloody girlfriend?" Lily grumbled, glaring over at her brother.

"You watch your tone, Lily Luna Potter," Ginny warned.

"Besides," Rose found herself speaking up, "Albus does have a girlfriend as shocking as that is."

" _Rose_ ," Albus said hastily, his eyes growing wide in panic. Only Rose noticed the flustered expression now appearing on Alice's face as a round of surprised silence filled the now curious room.

" _What_? Who!?" Lily scoffed.

" _No one_ ," Albus pleaded, glaring at Rose.

Rose smirked, ignoring the desperation now pleading in both Albus and Alice's eyes. "Why, noneother than-"

" _Rose, don't you dare!"_

"-Alice Longbottom herself, that's who," she said, not taking her eyes off of Albus as she spoke.

A brief silence filled the room. Until - " _What the hell is your problem, Rose_!?" Albus snapped, but his words were drowned out by a series of gasps and surprised cries from the surrounding families. Heads turned to stare at each other in shock. Furious whispers broke out. Mouths dropped open and eyes went wide.

"Wait, you two are dating?" Hannah Longbottom finally said to her daughter, her eyes filling with bewilderment. "Since when? Why didn't you tell me?""

Alice's face was burning red with embarrassment as Rose took her eyes off of Albus for a second to glance towards her best friend. The disappointment and anger were evident in Alice's blue eyes. "You really want to talk about secrets, Rose?" she drawled, her voice filled with animosity.

Rose froze, fear settling into every inch of her heart. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out.

"I asked you a question, Alice," her mother chimed in, ignoring the staring contest between Alice and Rose.

"Because I'll go there, Rose" Alice continued, her eyes narrowing at her friend. "You want to bring down me and Al, go right ahead, but I'll have no problem bringing you down with me."

"What are you talking about?" Albus spoke up, his expression full of bewilderment.

"Alice, answer me," Hannah urged, a slight irritation in her voice.

"I never considered myself a spiteful person," Alice continued, anger now thick in her voice as she glared at Rose, "But then again, I never considered you one either until tonight."

" _Alice_ ," Hannah hissed.

"Albus," Ginny intercepted, her eyes narrowing at her son. "Why didn't you tell us you were dating Alice?"

Rose scoffed. "Because apparently betrayal is all the two of them are good for," she muttered as she whirled around and headed out before she could give Alice the chance to humiliate her.

As she was leaving, Neville sauntered into the room with a welcoming smile. "Sorry I'm late! Had to deal with Peeves trying to throw holly at the students. Total nightmare," he said with a shrug. "So, what did I miss?"

Rose glanced over her shoulder to where everyone appeared to be sharing awkward looks of uncertainty. Hannah was glaring at her daughter while Ginny was staring bewildered at her son. Albus was staring curiously at Alice. Alice was glaring at Rose And Rose just sighed. "Nothing," she muttered to her professor. "You missed absolutely nothing."

And then she was gone.

* * *

 **Thursday, December 24** **th** **, 4:40 PM  
** **Potter Manor**

Rose rushed through the foyer in a desperate attempt to find a place where redheads and friends alike weren't occupying. She had just outed her best friends for absolutely no reason. Actually, that wasn't true. She did have a reason. She wanted to move the gossip train off of her and on to someone else. The opportunity had been handed to her on a silver platter and instead of taking the high road, she threw her best friends under the bus. It was supposed to make her feel better but it only made her feel emptier inside.

She crept towards the library, praying that no one would be in there.

God was not on her side.

"Rose?"

She jumped, glancing towards the lounge chair that eighteen-year-old Molly was currently perched in with a book in her hands. That wasn't surprising. Molly always had a book in her hand.

"Oh, sorry," Rose muttered. "I didn't realize there was anyone else in here."

"Hiding from the mob, hm?"

Rose sighed, dropping into a chair opposite Molly with a nod. "Have they always been this mad and I just didn't notice?"

Molly chuckled, placing her bookmark in her book and putting it down on the end table beside her. "Pretty much, yeah," she teased. "How have you been?"

There was a tone of concern in her words that made Rose let out a frustrated grunt. "Bloody hell, I really wish people would quit asking me that."

"When you don't eat and you sleep the day away and then disappear for long walks in the freezing cold to ignore your family, people will never stop asking you that."

Rose could only frown. "I'm fine," she lied for the second time that night.

Molly shook her head. "Who's the guy?"

Rose froze, her eyes widening slightly. "What are you talking about?"

Molly cocked her head to the side curiously, her eyes glassing over with regret. "When Everett broke up with me last year at graduation, I spent the summer doing nothing but sleeping and crying and talking long walks into town. Mum tried to help but it only made it worse. And while I appreciated Victoire looking in on me, she didn't know what heartbreak was. The only person she ever loved she married. Dominique had never been in love until Roberto. Fred and James…well, enough said with those two Casanovas. Nothing helped. No one could. I don't think I've ever felt so alone."

Rose recalled the summer before when Molly rarely ventured out of her room. She never showed up for Weasley family dinners. She avoided the pool parties at Potter Manor. She turned her cousins away when they tried cheering her up. It was the exact opposite of what Rose did after Cameron broke her heart. Rose pretended as if everything was fine. She put on the fake smile and laughed along with her cousins. She cannonballed into the Potters' pool and joined in on the traditional Weasley food fights. It was her way of acting as if Cameron hadn't completely broken her. Like Everett had done with Molly.

"And then you came into my room towards the end of the summer and said something that really made a difference," Molly spoke, glancing at Rose with a grateful smile. "You were going through your own heartbreak after that prick, Cameron, cheated on you, though you chose not to show it. I had thought at the time that that meant you didn't really love him. And maybe a part of that holds true. But either way, what you said really helped."

Rose frowned hesitantly. "What did I say?"

Molly's head tilted to the side as she stared into Rose's sad eyes. "You told me that having your heart broken didn't mean you had to lose yourself."

Rose's heart felt tight and constricting at the words she now recalled she had spoken just four months earlier. Back then, she thought she knew what heartbreak was. But her break up with Cameron was nothing compared to how broken her heart felt now.

"And you were right," she said softly. "So I'm going to tell you the same thing now. A broken heart doesn't mean you should lose yourself."

Rose opened her mouth to deny it. To tell Molly that her heart wasn't broken. To let her know she didn't know what she was talking about. Only she did know what she was talking about. This version of herself wasn't someone she knew. She was a mere robot lacking emotions because that was better than feeling anything. And she hated it. She hated every minute of it.

Rose felt the tears welling up inside of her eyes and she desperately tried to shake them off. She was tired of crying. Especially over someone who wasn't worth her tears.

"I didn't even realize how much of me he had until it was over," Rose eventually whispered.

Molly nodded. "Yeah, they tend to do that. Sneak into our hearts and make us fall for them without even meaning to. And we usually don't even realize it's happening until it's too late."

It wasn't that it was too late when she realized she had fallen for him. It was that she realized it only seconds before she realized he could never do the same with her.

"It gets better, right?" Rose pleaded with her older cousin.

Molly hesitated. "It gets bearable," she corrected.

That somehow made Rose feel worse.

"Don't let him have this hold over you," Molly urged, shaking her head. "You just need to be you and forget about who you were with him. You don't need him. You don't need anyone. All you need is you. And I'm not talking about this sullen, moody, depressed version of you. I mean the real you. The girl who would do anything to protect her family. The smartest witch I've ever known. The girl who has always grabbed life by the reins and lived it to the fullest. Don't let a guy take that away from you."

For the first time since she and Scorpius put an end to their arrangement, she actually felt encouragement and hope.

Which was squashed in a matter of minutes when she realized she might have just possibly lost her two best friends. As much as she believed Albus and Alice betrayed her, she betrayed them right back. "Something tells me that Al and Alice don't necessarily agree with that," she muttered.

Molly's brow furrowed. "Uh-oh. Friendship trouble?"

"I just outed their relationship to the entire family. What do you think?"

Molly's eyes bulged out. " _Albus and Alice_?"

"Yep."

She just gaped at her. "In a relationship?

"Yep."

She blinked. "Wow. I did not see that coming."

"Nor I."

Molly's head cocked to the side hesitantly. "Let me clue you in on a little secret, Rose," she sighed, "Making everyone else miserable doesn't make your misery hurt any less."

Rose scrunched up her nose with a whimper. "I was really hoping it might."

Molly chuckled. "I think it's time you do some damage control."

"I'm not sure either one of them are going to forgive me."

Molly hesitated before shaking her head. "I'm not just talking about them," she spoke softly. "I'm also talking about you."

Rose's heart skipped a beat as she met her cousins' knowing gaze. She didn't have to ask Molly what she meant. Molly had already said that losing sight of oneself because of a broken heart wasn't a healthy way to live. And Rose knew she was right. Crying into her pillow and sleeping the days away and refusing to eat and feeling nothing but remorse in every inch of her body was taking a serious toll on her. She didn't even recognize herself anymore, so it's not as if she could blame her family for being worried about her. She was a mere robot only going through a daily routine because it was expected of her. But being a robot isn't going to change the fact that she gave her heart to someone who could never accept it. Crying wasn't going to change what happened. Sleeping for days wasn't going to make the situation any better. Starving herself wasn't going to rid her misery. The only person that could do that was herself.

If only it was that easy.

Sighing, she glanced towards Molly and said, "Something tells me it'd probably be easier trying to fix my friendship with Al and Alice than it would be trying to fix myself."

Molly offered her a slight chuckle and a shrug. "If moving past a heartbreak was easy then the guy didn't really mean much in the first place."

Truer words had never been spoken.

"So," Molly said curiously, "Who is this guy that broke your heart?"

Rose grinned apologetically as she pulled herself out of the armchair. "I'm taking that information with me to the grave."

As she headed towards the door, Molly called out after her, "That's the last time I give you advice!"

And for the first time since things ended with Scorpius, Rose actually laughed.

* * *

 **Thursday, December 24** **th** **, 5:00 PM  
** **Potter Manor**

As Rose headed back towards the living room, she heard two very familiar voices arguing with each other.

"It meant nothing, Al," Alice urged. "Just the fact that she's clearly hiding something."

"I think you know what she's hiding."

"Is this really what we want to talk about?" Alice murmured. "Or should we talk about the fact that I guarantee our families are in there talking about our relationship."

"Let them," he sighed. "They had to find out eventually."

"Not two weeks into the relationship."

Albus said nothing at first, letting out what was clearly a frustrated sigh. "Why does it matter when they found out?"

"Because it's still new," she muttered. "We're still figuring things out. I was hoping to be doing that without the eyes of the entire family on us. Not to mention my father will now be all over my case once we get back to Hogwarts. Kiss any alone time together good-bye."

"What is there to figure out?" he asked softly. "I like you, Alice. And no amount of time is going to change that."

"I just didn't want everyone knowing."

" _Why not_?"

"Because what would happen to our families if we broke up? It would pit everyone against each other and I don't want that!"

Silence followed before Albus said, "Who says we're breaking up?"

"You never know."

" _I_ know," he hastily said. "Why do you keep doing this? Why do you keep counting us out before even giving us a chance?"

Rose was curious of that herself.

Alice let out a lengthy sigh before saying, "I want to be with you, Al, but I'm just so afraid you're going to find a reason to let me go. Which normally wouldn't be such a big deal considering how I'm pretty used to guys ditching me, but none of them meant anything to me. You, on the other hand, mean the world to me. And I'm just afraid of losing that."

"You're not going to lose that," he pleaded. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm not those other guys who let you go. I'm in this, Alice. I'm _all in_. I just need you to be all in, too."

Another long period of silence before Alice said, "You're all in?"

"l'm all in, Alice Longbottom," he whispered and suddenly Rose heard him kissing her.

Rose stepped out of the shadows and wandered over to them before she lost her nerve. "You may want to consider doing that elsewhere. There are about a thousand Weasleys right beyond that door and you do not want them catching you."

Albus and Alice pulled apart, both turning to look at her with equal glares. "Why must you always interrupt us mid-snog?" Albus muttered irritably, grabbing Alice's hand and heading back towards the living room.

"No, don't go," Rose pleaded, slowly making her way over to them. "Look, I know it's clear to both of you that I haven't exactly been myself lately. And it's true, I haven't been. But I hate that I dragged you two down with me. I just wanted everyone to stop worrying and gossiping about me and I threw you under the bus because you were the easiest target in that moment. I know it doesn't mean much, but I'm sorry."

Both Alice and Albus exchanged a hesitant look. "No, it doesn't mean much," Albus admitted. "I don't know what the hell has been going on with you, Rose, but that doesn't justify you betraying us."

"I know," she whispered shamefully. "I have no excuses. All I have is an apology. I understand if you don't want to accept it, but…" she trailed off, unable to plead with them to forgive him because she really needed them.

"Why should we accept it?" Albus scoffed.

Rose slowly met his gaze, recognizing the raw anger in his darkened pupils. She felt her heart begin to race at the unexpected vulnerability that swarmed her, her next words slipping out in a hoarse whisper. "Because without you two, I have no one."

Albus blinked in surprise but it was the compassion in Alice's eyes that Rose settled on. "That's not true," Alice argued. "You have an entire family worried about you. That doesn't sound like you have no one to me."

Rose shrugged. "They're obligated to worry me because they're my family. You guys are the ones I can count on."

"Uh, _I'm_ your family," Albus said with a hint of a smile.

Rose rolled her eyes. "I'm just trying to say that you two are my best friends. And I know I didn't treat you that way, but…well, I really am sorry. It wasn't fair of me to take my crappy mood out on you two. I'm sorry that I had to be the one to announce your relationship to our families. And I'm sorry that I got pissed off at you instead of being supportive. And I'm sorry that-"

"We get it," Alice cut her off with a chuckle. "You're sorry."

Albus shrugged. "We probably should have just told you, Rose."

"Just because we're friends doesn't mean you have to tell me everything," she sighed. "We're all allowed a little secret to ourselves now and again."

"Hm, yes, speaking of that…" Albus trailed off, glancing between the two of them. "Something you two want to share with me?"

"Nope," Alice said with a sheepish grin.

"Nothing at all," Rose added with her own grin.

Albus rolled his eyes and was about to argue, but stopped when he glanced towards Rose. "It's been far too long since I've seen you smiling, cuz."

Rose shrugged, her smile unwavering. "Well, you better start getting used to it."

Alice's eyebrows shot up. "We should?"

Rose nodded. "Now, are you two ready to face the firing squad…er, I mean, family?"

She ducked and laughed as Albus attempted to smack her in the head.

* * *

 **Thursday, December 24** **th** **, 9:30 PM  
** **Potter Manor**

"Once again, Mum, you've made on hell of a meal," Charlie Weasley spoke from the middle of the long table.

"Language, Charlie," older Molly scolded. "But thank you."

"Hey, don't forget we helped with the turkey!" Ginny chimed in, gesturing between herself and Harry.

"Er…well, Ginny did most of the work," Harry said with a chuckle. "Otherwise, the night might have been cut short due to a kitchen fire."

Laughter filled the table.

"In the spirit of tradition," Arthur Weasley said as he pushed his chair back and stood over the crowd, "I would like to end the night with a toast. I swear every year this gathering gets larger and larger and I am so thankful to have so many wonderful people in our lives. Both Molly and myself had always wanted a large family. It seems strange to think that thirty years ago it was just our family of nine eating around our kitchen table on Christmas Eve and here we are with forty people sharing in our Christmas spirit. Good thing Harry and Ginny bought this home because I can't imagine forty people trying to cram themselves into the Burrow's kitchen."

"Forty people couldn't fit in the entire house let alone the kitchen," George snickered.

"Why is it every time I start my toast, you find a way to interrupt?" his father sighed.

"You should consider shortening your toasts and I may not feel the need to interrupt."

One minute George was laughing and the next minute his shirt was covered in mashed potatoes.

Arthur grinned. "Gee, my hand must have slipped."

"Oh, no," Albus said with a groan.

"I thought when we got through dinner without a food fight, we were in the home stretch," Rose sighed.

"I hope you like chocolate, Dad!" George cried out, tossing a spoonful of pudding at his father.

He ducked and the chocolate ended up hitting Grandmum Molly in the face.

"Now look what you've done!" Arthur whined, sending his son a withering look.

"This isn't good," Albus whined.

"Not good at all," Rose agreed.

"No worries, dear," Grandmum Molly smirked at her husband, picking herself out of her chair and reaching for the salad tongs. "I plan on making lettuce come out of my son's ears."

"Well, you know what that means," Albus murmured.

Rose met his gaze and smirked. " _Food fight_!" she cried out with a handful of other Weasleys.

And thus the traditional Christmas Eve food fight erupted. Shrieks filled the table. Food was flying everywhere. Some people ducked for cover. Others shielded themselves with their plates. Alice and Albus were fighting over the plate of vegetables. The Thomas brothers were trying to use each other as a human shield. Caleb Lee and Fred were tossing water at anyone in their way. James was smashing cake in his sister's hair. Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron were having a war of baked goods. The female Weasley cousins were ganging up on the male cousins. Percy and Audrey started a war of green beans and peas against Fleur and Bill. The Scamanders were all throwing rolls at each other. The Thomases teamed up against the Finnigans. Hannah was crouched underneath the bench while her husband attempted to swat at her with his dirty napkin. Cadalyn and Augusta were hiding behind the Christmas tree. Charlie was dancing across the table and kicking food at those coming after him. But the one common thing between everyone was the laughter spilling from their mouths.

And as quickly as it started, it was over. Everyone was covered in food head to toe. The only people unscathed were Teddy and Dora and that was because the former was smart enough to flee the room with his daughter. He stood hovering in the doorway now, laughing at his family, and Rose glanced up at him, laughter on the edge of her own tongue.

"I call the shower first!" James roared as he clamored around the table and rushed off towards the foyer.

"OY, YOU BETTER NOT TAKE ALL OF THE HOT WATER!" Albus screamed after him.

Rose let out another laugh, glancing around the room and watching as people pulled food items out of each other's hair. She watched Roberto try to shake the butterbeer in his hair on to Dominique, who squealed in return. She smiled as Augusta smushed the mashed potatoes on Frankie even further into his clothes. George was chasing Angelina asking her for a hug. Caleb was pointing and laughing at his sister whose face was red with beets. Grandmum Molly was attempting to clean up the table with the help of younger Molly while Arthur watched as he scooped food particles off his clothing. Harry and Ginny had disappeared into the kitchen, presumably to find cleaning products since a good Scourgify spell couldn't tackle the large mess. The older Thomas brother had Haydn in a headlock, the both of them laughing. Seamus and Maya were attempting to wipe food from each other. And Rose saw Ron lean over and kiss his wife whose face was covered in hollandaise sauce.

When they pulled apart, Rose caught her mother's eye and smiled. Hermione looked surprised for all of a second before she smiled back, the clear relief evident in her eyes.

Rose just sat back and enjoyed yet another successful Christmas Eve dinner.

And to think just hours ago she had wanted to miss this.

* * *

 **Friday, December 25** **th** **, 2:45 AM  
** **Potter Manor**

Somehow, the living room was cleaned up along with those covered head-to-toe in food debris. Family friends said their Happy Christmases and flooed home, leaving only the Weasleys behind. When Harry and Ginny had bought the house, they knew they wanted one that had an abundance of guest rooms to account for their large family so while it was a bit cramped, the entire family spend the night at Potter Manor so that they could all welcome in Christmas together. The girls were currently camped out in one room while the boys were in a room down the hallway.

Rose really did have a memorable Christmas Eve. Being surrounded by her crazy yet devoted family members put a smile on her face that she wasn't expecting.

But now it was the middle of the night and she no longer had her family to distract her from the feelings weighing on her heart. And her mind wandered until it was wondering how Scorpius had spent his Christmas Eve. As much as he had hurt her, she couldn't help but still hope his Christmas had been a happy occasion. She knew that his family gatherings were far from ideal so she had a feeling the hope was unrealistic but she still thought of him enjoying his Christmas anyway. She hated the idea that his family could bring him such misery when hers was the sole reason she felt any ounce of happiness.

Before she knew it, she felt the tears stinging in her eyes again that always seemed to happen when her thoughts resided on him. She felt guilty for what she said to him to push him away and knew she'd never truly be able to get over it. The hurt look on his face was ingrained in her mind forever. She knew she had preemptively hurt him before he could hurt her, but she still had her own broken heart to show for it.

Things would be so much easier if she hadn't developed feelings for him.

She tossed and turned for another hour before finally giving up. Pulling herself out of the sleeping bag, she tiptoed out of the room, making sure not to wake any of the other girls, and snuck down the stairs. She instinctively sauntered into the living room and immediately felt her spirits lift at the sight of the Christmas tree and its twinkling lights. Something about it felt so peaceful and comforting when her heart felt anything but.

She grabbed a throw blanket and draped it around her shoulders as she took refuge on the couch, staring into the white lights of the tree as she slowly began to wonder what Scorpius was doing in that moment. Seeing as it was nearing three in the morning, one could make the obvious argument that he was probably sleeping. But a rather silly part of Rose wondered if he was awake thinking about her, too. She felt an overwhelming rush of desperation settle into her heart at the realization that she actually missed him. For the past week, she was happy to be rid of him but at the same time, she felt herself wishing he was there with her. She missed so much of who they used to be together. She missed his kisses. She missed his laugh. She missed being able to tell him things. She missed the way he looked at her. She missed the way she felt around him. She missed everything about him.

But how could she be missing someone that wasn't even hers to begin with?

"Rose?"

Rose let out a yelp, jerking her gaze towards the entryway. "Merlin, Uncle Harry, you gave me a fright!"

He cringed apologetically as he stepped into the living room warily. "Is everything okay?"

She nodded, though she couldn't be entirely sure. "Sorry, did I wake you? I was trying to be quiet."

He shook his head. "No, I couldn't sleep," he admitted, perching on the other end of the couch. "This may just make me sound like a little kid, but Christmas morning is one of my favorite times of year. I didn't exactly have the best Christmases in my childhood, but some of my favorite memories of Christmas were when I was at Hogwarts."

Rose's eyebrow shot up curiously. It was rare for Harry to speak of his less-than-ideal childhood, but she was always fascinated by it. "Did you always go to the Burrow for Christmas?"

He shook his head. "Nah, most of my years were spent at Hogwarts actually with Ron and Hermione."

Rose loved when he reminded her of the close friendship he and her parents had grown up with at Hogwarts. She loved it even more when he talked about the fights that erupted between her parents. "Tell me about the Yule Ball again," she insisted with twinkling eyes.

He chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "You just love it when I regale you with stories of your father embarrassing himself."

"Hell yeah!"

He shot her a look.

"Er…I mean, heck yeah," she said with a teasing grin.

"Y'know," her uncle and godfather mused, "Whenever I look back on that Ball, it strikes me that Ron had really liked your mother far before I was ever really aware of it. I thought he was just being his usual awkward self, but he was actually jealous of the fact that your mother went with Viktor Krum."

Rose still couldn't believe that her mother had dated an international Quidditch star. "Do you think Krum ever kissed my Mum?"

Harry chuckled, shrugging. "I plead the fifth."

She burst into giggles, knowing perfectly well that her mother and Krum had indeed shared a few kisses. But it didn't go anywhere beyond that because evidently her idiot of a mother had feelings for her idiot of a father. Talking about their teenage love lives brought Rose's thoughts back to her own hormonal relationship with Scorpius that had ended even quicker than it had begun. The smile on her face slowly faded into one of tortured confusion.

"What's wrong, Rosie Posie?"

She frowned, glancing up at the use of her old childhood nickname. Only her godfather could get away with using it as he was the one who started it in the first place. "Nothing," she lied.

His eyebrow shot up as he shook his head. "Then what are you doing downstairs at three o'clock in the morning?"

"Couldn't sleep," she said with a shrug.

"And why not?"

She opened her mouth to say it was nothing in particular, but the words wouldn't form. Because it wasn't nothing. She had fallen for Scorpius Malfoy and not a single sole knew about it except Alice. Scorpius didn't even know. Scorpius could never know.

As she glanced up at her godfather hesitantly, she realized that so much of her wanted to confess her relationship turmoil with him. She knew that if he could trust anyone with the information so that it wouldn't get leaked to other members of the family, it would be him. As a young child, he told Rose that as her godfather, she could tell him anything and it wouldn't get passed back to her mother or father nor Aunt Ginny. Since then, she had shared many secrets with him, though most of them were insignificant and silly. She had tested him in the beginning to make sure he wasn't lying, but he wasn't. He always kept her secrets no matter how insignificant or silly that they were.

"If I tell you something, can you promise you won't tell Mum or Dad?" she asked softly, resting her head against the couch cushion.

"You know that I won't," he urged with a reassuring smile.

She felt her heart begin to race at the prospect of telling her uncle that she had been sneaking around with the son of his Hogwarts rival. But Uncle Harry was the least judgmental person she knew, opposite of her father who was the most judgmental person she knew. She had the hope that if she told Harry the truth, he wouldn't judge her but instead give her the words of encouragement she needed.

"I was sorta seeing Scorpius Malfoy," she blurted out in a hoarse whisper.

She saw her uncle's eyebrows shoot up out of the corner of her eye. He said nothing at first, just staring at his goddaughter and niece in what appeared to be a mix between shock and bewilderment. "Uh…" he said, clearing his throat.

She frowned guiltily. "I know," she whispered.

He frowned hesitantly. "What exactly do you mean by 'seeing?'"

Right, like she was about to tell him that they spend hours in her bedroom while he fingered her and she sucked his dick and then she ultimately lost her virginity to him. "No one knew about it," she murmured with a shrug. "We were sneaking around."

His eyes narrowed, and she could sense he knew something was off by her avoiding the question. "Why the past tense?"

"It's over," she muttered, her heart skipping a beat. "It…it had to be."

"What makes you say that?"

 _Because I have feelings for him that he could never reciprocate._

She didn't say that, not sure that was a can of worms she wanted to be diving into. How could she explain to her uncle that she fell for a guy who made it clear from the get-go that relationships and love were nothing but a total sham to him. "It's not like I could ever really be with him," she murmured as she hung her head sullenly. "It would never work out. We're too different. Our families have too much history. My father would probably disown me and Albus would hate me for going behind his back to date his best friend."

Her uncle seemed to consider those words with a wariness in his eyes. "Your father may surprise you," Harry said hesitantly. "When I first kissed his sister after a Quidditch match directly under his nose, I thought for sure he would hex me. But he didn't."

"Yeah, because he knew you'd treat her right," she argued. "I have a feeling my father wouldn't feel the same way about Malfoy."

"Hm," he murmured curiously. " _Was_ he treating you right?"

 _Well, he got me off every time. That counts, right?_ "He did the best he could," she admitted, realizing that she meant it. He hadn't been perfect. Then again, neither was she. But things were pretty incredible up until the point that they weren't.

He grew suspiciously quiet and Rose was desperate for him to say something that made more sense than the jumbled thoughts in her head.

"Do you still want to be with him?" he asked curiously.

She contemplated the question very carefully. She knew her heart still wanted to be with him but her head was there reminding her that what she wanted didn't matter. He didn't want her. He never would. And she deserved someone who could love her the same way she loved them.

She felt the tears springing to her eyes and she desperately tried to blink them away. "I can't be with him," she whispered achingly, the truth of that answer causing a shiver to run down her spine.

"That's not what I asked," he spoke softly, reaching over and placing a comforting hand on her knee.

Rose said nothing, desperately trying to blink away the tears that were threatening to form. She couldn't bring herself to admit out loud that her feelings for Scorpius were still so strong that it physically hurt not being with him.

"Do you love him, Rosie?"

She jerked her head up to stare at her godfather with wide eyes. Letting the question dangle in the air, she felt a crushing sensation in her heart at the truth of her feelings. Molly had been right. It wouldn't hurt this much if he hadn't meant something to her. But it wasn't just infatuation. It wasn't just lust. It wasn't just fleeting adoration. It was love.

She was in love with Scorpius Malfoy.

That thought sent a jolt of shock to her heart that she let out her own shocked gasp, her face frozen with the revelation as her eyes grew with panic. She wasn't supposed to love him. He was supposed to be a mere fling. Something fun. Casual. Physical involvement only. She was supposed to go on hating him. Taunting him and insulting him. Getting a rise out of him just because she could. But instead of doing any of that, she had done what she told herself she could never do. In what felt like no time at all, she hadn't just developed feelings for him or fallen for him and fancied him. She fell in love with him.

She couldn't avoid it anymore. The truth was out. Her heart ached for him, her eyes cried for him, her body yearned for him. She had been so scared about needing him that she hadn't realized it was so much more than that. _She had fallen in love with him_.

She hated him for making her love him. But she hated herself more for loving someone who could never love her back.

"You do," Harry spoke up hesitantly, "Don't you."

Rose slowly turned to face her uncle as she offered him a single curt nod. Right before she started crying.

"Oh, Rose," he spoke, scooting over on the couch and gathering her in his arms. "It'll be okay."

It was the first thing her uncle had ever said to her that she didn't believe.

* * *

 **Friday, December 25** **th** **, 3:30 AM  
** **Malfoy Manor**

Scorpius wished he could say he had had a good Christmas Eve and was looking forward to Christmas, but he had never been a fan of the holidays. He'd always put on the fake smile and act like he had holiday spirit and pretend to listen to his grandfather's rants about pureblooded supremacy and ignore his mother's absence. But this year, Scorpius didn't have it in him to act like the obedient child he was supposed to be.

Glancing towards the clock, he sighed when he realized it was the middle of the night and he had yet to fall asleep. He could have pretended it was because of his screwed-up family, but he knew it all stemmed back to a redhead he couldn't seem to get out of his head no matter how hard he tried.

He turned on to his back, staring up at the ceiling with a sad sigh. He wondered what Rose was doing in that moment. The obvious answer would have been sleeping but he knew she was staying over at Potter Manor so there was a good chance the older cousins were up late causing trouble like they excelled in so much. It put an unexpected smile on Scorpius' face at the same time it sent an ache through his heart. Not that he'd ever admit it aloud, but he had always been a bit jealous of the Weasley-Potter cousins. As much as James and Fred had made it their mission to drive both him and Albus crazy in Hogwarts and even though Roxanne could be incredibly stuck-up and Louis was a bore and as much as Rose had gotten on his nerves for so many years and even though Lily was an entitled princess, Scorpius would still take an army of intrusive cousins over having no one at all.

Scorpius had always acted like he needed no one but himself. And there were times he still believed it. But it was these rare moments when the silence became too much to bear that Scorpius wished he was a member of any other family than the one he had.

When he had been with Rose, Scorpius was able to forget about the silence in his head. She had filled it with encouragement and hope. She had given him a reason to believe life was worth living. She had given his life meaning. He never realized how much she had really meant to him until it was too late.

He wanted to hate her for it. The problem was, he was too busy loving her.

He just didn't know it yet.

* * *

 **A/N:** Ah, the joys of a Potter-Weasley Christmas. Not a lot of Scorpius but you'll get plenty of him and Rose in the next chapter: New Year's Eve!


	15. She Deserves Better

**A/N:** Originally, the New Year's Eve chapter was one lonnnng one but I made the last-minute decision to split it into two. Part 2 should be coming in a week but for that to happen, I need reviews!

 **Disclaimer:** I love J.K. Rowling but I am not her. She owns pretty much everything you see here.

* * *

 **Different Kind of Love Story**

By ByeByeBirdie

Chapter 14: She Deserves Better

* * *

 **Thursday, December 31** **st** **, 8:05 PM  
** **Malfoy Manor**

To say that Scorpius' holiday break was horrendous would be an understatement. He spent most of it drinking firewhisky on his balcony or sleeping the days away and no one even noticed. He had only held a handful of conversations with his father and all of them consisted of his father giving him tips for landing a good job after Hogwarts. What his father didn't know was that his future was far from his mind. The only thing he could think about was Rose Weasley.

She had somehow gotten inside his head more than he would have liked to believe and he had thought that two weeks away from her and from school would be the answer to getting over her, but it only resulted in him missing her every second of every day. His heart ached for her in a way he had never thought could be possible. She had turned him into someone he barely recognized. Someone with real feelings and emotions. It scared him because he had always believed he lacked both.

Turns out, she was the one who lacked them.

Every moment he spent thinking about her he had tried to hate her. He kept reminding himself that she had toyed with his heart and stomped all over it the first moment she got. He believed she had to have known what she was doing. The idea that she could go on a date with one guy, sleep with another hours later, and then return to the arms of the first guy the next day was demoralizing. He had always considered her to be so innocent and virtuous but in the end, she was anything but. So he was desperate to hate her. Only he was too busy missing her to hate her.

He considered for a brief second avoiding the New Year's Eve party at the Potters, knowing he'd be better off not seeing her. But he squashed the very idea almost immediately, refusing to let her get inside his head any more than she already had. He needed a night out. A night of fun. A night away from being alone. A night away from his thoughts.

And what killed him was that a small part of him actually wanted to see her.

She had stomped all over his heart and yet he still cared about her.

Something was seriously wrong with him.

He wasn't going to bother saying good-bye to his father, but as he traipsed towards the living room to floo to Potter Manor, he was stopped by both his father and grandfather who were sitting together on the couch.

"Scorpius, where are you going?" his father asked.

He frowned. "It's New Year's Eve. I'm going to a party."

His father only nodded. "Okay."

"Who's party?" Lucius continued curiously.

"Does it matter?"

"By your unwillingness to tell me, I think it might."

Scorpius sighed. "Albus' party."

Lucius let out a derisive snort. "Albus _Potter_? Are you still associating with that family?"

"Yes, Grandfather, I am."

"I think it's good for the Malfoy name," his father spoke up and Scorpius couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"It's not good for anything!" Lucius argued. "Do you not remember that the head of that family destroyed everything we had worked towards for nearly _twenty years_?"

"Father, let's not get into this," Draco insisted.

"Oh, for the love of Circe, Draco, I realize that that boy saved your life but you don't have to always defend him."

"Wait, what?" Scorpius interrupted. "Harry Potter saved your life, Dad?"

"I saved his, too," Draco muttered.

"No, that was all your mother," Lucius scoffed.

" _What_ are you two talking about?" Scorpius demanded.

Lucius waved his hand dismissively. "We need to hold on to our beliefs because that's all we've got in this world," he spoke coolly. "And hanging around the Potter family will make others think we agree with their ideals. And we don't. We are purebloods through and through. The Potters and the rest of those Weasleys will never accept us just like we don't accept them. You are a Malfoy, Scorpius. Start acting like one."

As his grandfather spoke those words, all Scorpius could think about were the same words Rose spoke to him three weeks earlier when she told him all he'd ever be was a Malfoy. It made him angrier but he wasn't sure who he was angrier with. His grandfather, his father for saying nothing, Rose, or himself for letting it all get to him.

If only his grandfather knew that he had feelings for a Weasley.

That was a funeral waiting to happen.

"I'll keep that in mind at Albus' party," Scorpius drawled as he quickly jumped into the fireplace and flooed to Potter Manor before his grandfather could stop him.

Tumbling out, he exited the sitting room and was not at all surprised to see the huge crowd already hanging about. He tried to suppress the urge to punch a wall as he weaved his way through the swarm of people in an attempt to find someone he knew. Anyone he knew.

"Well, lookie who we have here."

Anyone but Lily Potter.

Scorpius turned around, his eyes narrowing at the redhead who clearly had a drink in her hand and whose sequined dress, in his mind, was far too short. "Should you be drinking that?"

She shrugged, tossing her long red hair over her shoulder. "Do you not remember me warning you not to hurt my beloved cousin? In case you were wondering, that _was_ a threat I plan to make good on."

He had been at the party for all of two minutes and already someone had to bring up Rose. This was already not a great start to his evening. "Get your facts straight," he murmured, shaking his head. "She was the one who hurt me."

Lily's eyes narrowed at him. "Then why the hell was she the one moping around for a week?"

Scorpius' heart skipped a beat. "She was?"

"Was," she said bitterly. "Not anymore. Guess she realized what a true prick you really were."

He sighed. "She already knew I was a prick."

Lily's eyebrow shot up at the unexpected response. "You really are a prick if you think that."

"I don't think that. I know that. She as good as told me," he muttered, cringing when he recalled the comment about him always being a Malfoy. The comment that had been ringing in his ear every time he felt himself missing her.

She snorted. "Then Rose lied because most people I know don't cry themselves to sleep for a week straight over someone they believe to be a _prick_."

Scorpius wasn't sure what to make of that, staring at Lily with bewilderment and hesitation. The idea that Rose Weasley was crying at all much less over him was something he filed away in his 'that makes no fucking sense' side of the brain. She was the one who changed the rules between them. Not him. She didn't get to cry. She didn't get to be upset. He did nothing wrong except care about her.

"Yeah, well, I'm sure Haydn Thomas was there to make her feel better," he muttered immaturely before attempting to step past the fifteen-year-old.

"Oh, you have got to be bloody kidding me!" she groaned, grabbing his arm before he could stalk off. "Is that what you're so pissed about? Because Rose went on one bloody date with some other bloke? Maybe if you wanted to be the one dating her, you should have said something!"

"She doesn't want to date me," he snapped. "And she shouldn't want to. She made the right call."

He tore his arm away from Lily and stormed off before she could get in another word.

Maybe showing up to the party was a bad idea after all.

* * *

 **Thursday, December 31** **st** **, 8:45 PM  
** **Potter Manor**

"James Sirius Potter, stop serving underage girls alcohol!" Rose scowled, her hands resting firmly on her hips. "And I swear if I see you so much as make a pass at any of them, you're not going to live to the New Year!"

He only laughed, his arm draped around some girl Rose recognized as a former Slytherin who was a year older than she was. "You were more fun when you were moping!" he teased, winking at Rose as he disappeared into the crowd.

"That kid will never grow up, the bloody arse," Rose muttered under her breath, though a laugh behind her made her realize it wasn't as quiet as the had intended. Glancing over her shoulder, she smiled as Alice wandered up.

"This party gets more and more out of control every year," Alice smirked.

"That's because more and more Weasleys are allowed to come and then invite their friends. How Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny gave Lily permission to attend is beyond me. They know perfectly well these things are drunken debaucheries all thanks to their arse of a son."

"I'm assuming you're referring to James."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Yes, James. Don't worry, your precious boytoy is the farthest thing from an arse."

"The word you are looking for, dear friend, is _boyfriend_."

Rose pretended to contemplate her words before shaking her head. "Nope, too weird."

Alice laughed. "What are the chances I can convince you to have a glass of champagne?"

Rose frowned hesitantly, glancing around the room and already seeing it heading towards disaster. Two girls were arguing very loudly over Louis. Roxanne was clearly intoxicated as she snogged Jax in plain view of everyone. James was downing drinks as he switched from one girl to the next. Cadalyn was yelling something at Haydn who looked bored but was pretending to pay attention. Cadalyn's brother, Caleb, and Fred were forcing shots of firewhisky down those who came near them. A makeshift dance floor had been made and girls and boys were gyrating against each other quite proactively as music from Lightning Strikes filled the room, Lily and Wes the center of it all. And right when Rose wasn't sure it could get any worse, she heard a loud crash as a lamp fell to the floor and broke.

Rose glanced back towards Alice with a wry look. "Am I really the only responsible one in my family?"

"Molly's responsible."

"Yes, and she was quite smart to opt out of the festivities by offering to babysit Dora for the night."

"Live a little, girlfriend," Alice smirked as she ducked away for a few minutes and came back with two rather large glasses of champagne.

Rose laughed but clinked her glass with her friends before diving in. "Where's Albus?"

Alice cringed, quickly turning away. "I was kinda hoping you wouldn't ask me that."

Rose's eyebrow shot up. "Why?"

Alice frowned as she took a sip of her drink before saying, "Because he's off with Scorpius somewhere."

Rose's heart skipped a beat at the mere mention of him, her heart skipping an unexpected beat. After she had cried in her uncle's arms, she vowed to spend the rest of the break doing everything in her power to forget about Scorpius. And for a while it worked. She went into Diagon Alley with Albus and Alice. She agreed to tag along with Lily and Wes to see James' band. She babysat Dora and gave Victoire and Teddy a night off. She went to a Chudley Canons game with Molly and Dominique. She still thought of him all the time but he didn't let him define her. But the idea that he was somewhere in that house only a few yards away from her made the huge Potter Manor suddenly feel very small.

"Oh" was all Rose could think of to say.

Alice saw the way the light in her friend's eyes faded every time Scorpius' name was mentioned and it killed her to watch her friend in so much pain. "If it makes you feel any better, he looks pretty miserable."

Rose frowned. "I don't see why. It's not like he's not used to screwing girls over."

"You didn't give him the chance to screw you over, remember?"

She glanced at Alice hesitantly before downing the rest of her champagne, welcoming the burning liquid down her throat. "He was going to," she muttered. "I just beat him to the punch."

"Based on the way he looks tonight, he isn't too happy about that."

"Good. He deserves a taste of his own medicine."

Alice sighed. "So is that why you said something unforgivable to him? Out of revenge?"

Rose was suddenly wishing the subject of Scorpius never came up. "I did it so he would walk away," she murmured. "And that's exactly what he did."

Alice hesitated before saying, "Only because you forced him to."

"He would have anyway."

"Are you sure about that?"

Rose shot her a glare. "Yes, Ace, I'm sure. He's made it pretty known that he's an asshole. Far be it for me to think otherwise."

Alice frowned. "But you do think otherwise, don't you?"

Rose said nothing. She wanted to believe he was an asshole. And maybe a part of her still did. But somehow, something about him had changed in her mind. He went from being an asshole to the guy she fell in love with.

"Maybe at one point I did," Rose murmured. "But Leona reminded me exactly the kind of guy he is."

Alice blinked, staring at her friend in bewilderment. " _Leona_?" she said, confused. "What does Leona Goyle have to do with this?"

Rose frowned, staring at her empty glass and wishing she had more champagne. Glancing up, she hastily grabbed the half-full glass out of Alice's hand and took a large gulp. "Nothing," she lied.

Alice took a step back, her eyes narrowing cautiously as she glanced suspiciously at her friend who was holding an empty glass of champagne in one hand and a nearly-empty glass in the other. It looked nothing like the best friend she once had. "You told me that you fell for him when he could never fall back," she spoke hesitantly. "What brought you to that conclusion, Roe?"

"Because he's Scorpius fucking Malfoy, Ace!" Rose hissed, downing the rest of the second glass of champagne and ignoring the slight buzz in her ear. "Leona was right to tell me that he was a player with fake charm who lured unsuspecting girls into bed and then ditched them the moment he got what he wanted. That was going to be me, Ace. So I ditched him before he could ditch me. I refused to let him turn me into a fool."

Alice's eyes widened slightly. "You're telling me that you listened to a jealous ex-girlfriend instead of listening to your own heart?"

Rose blinked back another set of tears, refusing to cry again over a guy who wasn't worth her tears. "I listened to both," she whispered. "They both said the same thing."

Alice grabbed the empty glasses out of Rose's hands and tossed them on to a nearby table before turning back to her friend. "No," she whispered. "I think your head is telling you the same thing that Leona did. I think your heart is telling you something else entirely."

Rose's heart was crushing her ribcage, the unbearable pain making it near impossible to breathe. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. Especially not tonight. Not on New Year's Eve. I just…I want to go into the New Year forgetting about all of this. Put it in the past. Please, Ace, just help me get through tonight, won't you?"

Alice wanted to continue the conversation but the desperate plea in her friend's eyes had her reluctantly relenting. She couldn't tell if Rose really believed what she was saying or if she was just sabotaging her relationship with Scorpius out of fear, but whatever the reason was, Alice knew Rose was stubborn enough not to change her mind. "Well, in my mind, we have two options here: we could start spreading a rumor amongst the crowd that James has an STD or we could dance to his unfortunately very catchy music. What do you say?"

Rose smiled feebly. "Who says we can't do both?"

* * *

 **Thursday, December 31** **st** **, 9:30 PM  
** **Potter Manor**

Scorpius was pretty much ignoring everything that Albus was prattling on about. Something to do with Neville Longbottom giving him a stern talking to about his daughter of which James just watched and laughed at the whole ordeal. Whatever it was, Scorpius didn't care much. He had been at the party for over an hour without any sighting of Rose. He considered that a good thing, but he couldn't help but keep his eyes on the lookout for her everywhere he went. He didn't want to see her, and yet at the same time he did. Rose Weasley had somehow stolen his heart and while he wasn't ready to take it back, he knew that he had to. And in order to do so, he needed to see her. To realize he had done the right thing by walking away and staying away. To remind himself that she was callous and shallow and deceitful. He needed to know that she wasn't worth the pain in his heart.

"Are you even listening to me?"

Scorpius jumped, glancing to where Albus stood glaring at him. "Er… the truth? No, not really."

Albus scoffed. "What's with you?"

He shook his head with a sigh. "Nothing."

Albus frowned, tossing back a sip of firewhisky. "How was Christmas at home?"

Scorpius shot him a look. "We are so not talking about my arse of a family."

"That bad, hm?"

Scorpius shrugged, but said nothing.

"Does your father know you're here tonight?"

"Yeah."

"How'd that conversation go."

"Al," he snapped. "I don't want to talk about it."

"That well, hm?"

Scorpius glared at him. "He was fine with it."

"Oh really?"

" _Yes_ , now will you drop it?"

"Oh, there you are," a new voice chimed in as Alice wandered up to the two of them. Holding her empty cup up towards Al, she said, "My drink appears to be empty. Care to get me a new one?"

"What do you want?"

"Whatever you can find. The alcohol stash around here is starting to seriously deplete."

"That would be because my jackoff of a brother keeps downing shots into the mouths of fifteen-year-old girls," Albus muttered as he grabbed her drink and walked off.

Scorpius sighed as he nearly finished off his own drink. Maybe he should have gone with Albus.

"You want to tell me what the fuck is wrong with you, Scorpius Malfoy?"

Scorpius blinked, glancing towards the angry blonde. Yep, he definitely should have gone with Albus. "That's a long list, Longbottom. Care to narrow it down for me?"

" _You and Rose_."

He frowned, his heart aching at the mere mention of her. Slowly shaking his head, he said, "There is no me and Rose. She made that abundantly clear."

Alice looked like she wanted to smack him but thought better of it. "Apparently there was at some point and apparently sex was involved."

Scorpius winced. "Don't remind me," he muttered.

She glared at him. "How could you do that to her?"

"I didn't do a damned thing, Alice," he snarled. "That was all her."

She rolled her eyes at him. "No, Scorpius, it was all you. It started with you and it ended with you. I know your little arrangement was your idea. She never would have come up with it on her own. And-"

"So?" he sighed.

" _So_?" she repeated irritably before growing unnaturally quiet. She stared at him, wondering how to best word it to prove to him what a manipulative prick he really was. "You knew how vulnerable she was and you manipulated her anyway."

Scorpius blinked. "How the hell would I have ever known how vulnerable she was?"

She hesitated, contemplating her next words carefully before sighing and saying, "You were there the night Cameron Zee broke her heart."

Whatever he was expecting her to say, it wasn't there. " _What_?"

"You had to know how hurt and broken and crushed she was. It doesn't matter that she doesn't show it. She's never been very good at that. She prefers to act as if everything is fine and deal with her own insecurities on her own. _But you were there_. You-"

"I know I was there," he snapped. "I'm very aware of how hurt and broken and crushed she was. I watched her stare at Cameron and say nothing. I watched the light fade from her eyes. I watched her turn around and walk out without a single word, leaving me behind to punch the guy in the fucking face. And-"

"That was you?"

"-I know she acts as if it never happened. As if she wasn't hurt or crushed or broken. I know that she hides it all under fake smiles and pretend happiness. I know that Cameron fucking Zee made her afraid to love again. Hell, he made her afraid to feel _anything_ again. And I know now that's why she said yes to our casual arrangement. I know she thought it would be easier fooling around with someone she cared nothing for. I know she didn't want her heart involved again. She didn't want it broken again. And I know how unhappy she was. She blamed it on stress and N.E.W.T.s and Quidditch because that was easier than admitting some guy made her feel worthless. I know she is vulnerable and insecure but I swear to you, Alice, I didn't know any of this when I first suggested our arrangement. If I had, I wouldn't have suggested it at all. Because she deserves better. She deserves to find someone who can care about her the way she deserves to be cared for. She deserves to be happy. And she deserves to be loved. _She deserves better_."

Those words hit Scorpius hard. It didn't matter that she had ripped his heart out of his chest with just a few words because it wasn't about him. It was about her. She was still trying to figure out who she was and she couldn't do that with him. He was a distraction. That's all he ever was to her. A distraction from her feelings and insecurities and broken heart. But she deserved to be with someone who could make her feel again and who could make those insecurities disappear and who could heal her heart. She deserved to find herself. With him, all she was doing was hiding.

He wasn't mad at her because she played him. He wasn't mad at her because she deceived him. He wasn't mad at her because she toyed with his emotions. He was mad at her for making him fall for her when she deserved so much better.

He looked up at Alice and said softly, "She deserves someone who isn't me."

To say that Alice was shocked was a total understatement. She was floored by the accurate representation that Scorpius just depicted of her best friend. A representation about a girl from a guy who supposedly didn't care about her. As she looked up at him, she saw guilt staring back at her. She saw defeat in his eyes. She saw the helplessness in his expression. And she saw heartbreak. Overwhelming heartbreak.

"Oh my God," she blurted out, shaking her head in bewildered awe. "You fell for her."

Scorpius winced briefly before shaking his head. "No, I didn't," he lied.

She dropped on to the edge of the couch behind them as she wrapped her mind around the truth that was staring her in the face. "Yeah, you did," she spoke softly. "You actually have feelings for her."

He said nothing because they both knew her words rang true.

"Why the hell didn't you just tell her that?" Alice croaked out.

He could only shake his head. He did tell her that. He told her he cared about her. He told her she mattered. And she still found a way to break his heart. "I did," he murmured. "And she didn't believe me."

Alice sighed. "Do you blame her considering your track record with women?"

Scorpius' brow furrowed. It was the first time someone said something that gave Scorpius some insight into why Rose turned her back on them. "Is…is that why she walked away?"

Alice's eyebrow shot up curiously. "I thought you were the one who walked away."

He said nothing, wrapping his mind around the unexpected information Alice provided him. He had wondered for three weeks why she had seemed so angry the day she walked back into their room. They had partaking in witty banter just that morning and a few hours later she wanted nothing to do with him. At the time, he assumed it had something to do with Alice. He assumed she tried making up with Alice and failed. He assumed the reason she was mad had nothing to do with him and their fight just escalated into something that never had to happen.

But what if it wasn't about Alice? What if it really was about him?

"She made me walk away," he murmured in awe, the realization settling in. "She said what she did to get me to walk away."

Alice looked impressed that he managed to guess correctly. Made her think he knew Rose better than Alice realized. "Yeah," she said with a shrug. "She did."

He blinked, the realization settling into his heart. "Why?" he whispered.

Alice hesitated before shrugging. "Maybe you should be asking her that question."

"She doesn't want anything to do with me," he muttered.

"Of course she does," Alice sighed. "She's just afraid that you don't want anything to do with her."

Scorpius opened his mouth to tell her Rose was wrong to think so, but he quickly shut it again. Because so much of him knew that it didn't matter how he felt. There was a reason she had pushed him away. And she was right to do it. He didn't know how to treat a woman right and Rose deserved that. He didn't know how to act in a relationship and Rose deserved that. He didn't know how to listen to his heart and Rose deserved that. He didn't know how to love. And Rose deserved someone who could love her.

"Maybe she's right to think that," he found himself saying.

Alice blinked, turning to stare at him. " _What_?"

He felt his heart ache as he said for a second time that night, "She deserves better."

Her heart skipped a beat. All she could do was stare at him in disbelief and confusion and shock at how broken he looked. A guy who always came off so strong and confident looked unexpectedly vulnerable and damaged all because of a girl. He had done the unthinkable and fallen for Rose but instead of admitting it, he was will to act as if it never even happened. For her sake apparently.

"And what if she doesn't want better?"

Scorpius sighed. He may have believed Alice if Rose wasn't currently dating Hadyn Thomas. "C'mon, Longbottom, you and I both know whatever it is that Rose and I were doing is better kept in the past. It's over. It probably never should have started to begin with."

She frowned hesitantly. "Then why did it?"

He shrugged. "Because neither one of us realized it could mean something more than just a casual hookup."

She smirked. "So you admit it meant something to you?"

He growled. "Why are you doing this?"

"Why do I care about my best friend?" she scoffed. "Maybe because you're afraid to do the same."

He winced. Of course he was afraid of caring about her. He did that once and it crushed his heart when it came to an abrupt end with no warning. He had been broken and hurt and his heart felt like someone was jabbing a knife into it over and over again. If he could avoid ever feeling like that again, he was going to take it. And being with Rose Weasley was a guaranteed way to send his heart spiraling into overwhelming calamity.

The very reminder of how much he had once cared for Rose sent another jolt of despair to his already damaged heart and he had to turn away from the scrutinizing gaze of Alice to ignore the pain.

"I cared about her," he muttered with the slow shake of the head, "And she said the one thing she knew would crush me."

"She only said it to get you to walk away, Scorpius."

"Yeah, well, it worked," he muttered.

" _Scorpius_ -"

"She said what she did knowing that I probably wouldn't ever be able to forgive her for it. And the fact of the matter is, she wouldn't want me to anyway."

She shook her head. "Please talk to her."

"No," he whispered, shaking his head. "There's nothing to talk about. She had her reasons for wanting me to walk away and I had my reasons for doing so. I don't want to talk to her. I don't' even want to talk about her. I'm done. I'm just… _I'm done_."

His heart sank into his chest at the truth of those words. _He was done_. Not because he wanted to be but because he had to be. It didn't matter how he felt. It didn't matter that she somehow managed to change him. What mattered was giving her exactly what she needed. And what she needed was for him to leave her alone. She had needed him to walk away and he did just that. He couldn't go back. Neither of them could. And he wasn't so sure either of them really wanted to.

It was over. And it was time for him to accept it.

Alice slowly climbed off the couch, sensing that there was something he was holding back from her. He was hurt, that much was evident. But she felt as if a part of him was also trying to protect himself from her on top of trying to protect her from him. As if he was just as afraid of getting hurt by her as she was by him.

Glancing at a clearly heartbroken Slytherin, she asked softly, "Do you love her?"

Scorpius' heart suddenly felt as if it was on fire with the question he had been trying to avoid for the past three weeks. "I don't believe in love."

She offered him a twisted smile of sympathy. "If that were really true, you would just have just said no."

He gaped at her but before he could find the right words to respond with, she was walking away, leaving him alone to contemplate those haunting words on his own.

He _really_ should have stayed home that night.

* * *

 **Thursday, December 31** **st** **, 10:15 PM  
** **Potter Manor**

"A freaking conga line," Rose muttered under her breath as she watched James grab Fred and August Longbottom and start a conga line. Before long, practically the entire room was joining in. But when James wanted something, he almost always got it. Being a famous rockstar and the son of Harry Potter had people agreeing to thinks without them even knowing what they were agreeing to.

"Could he be any more American right now?"

Rose jumped, glancing behind her as Haydn Thomas strolled up with a smirk. "I knew his band touring in the States would have him bringing back terrible habits."

He chuckled. "The band seems to be doing quite well for themselves."

"Every witch and wizard in the world has some form of their poster on their walls."

He could only laugh, knowing it wasn't an exaggeration. "Seems to me you've been spending most of the night trying to rein in your rowdy cousins. When is it your turn to enjoy the party?"

"I'm enjoying it," she argued. "I had a glass or two of champagne and danced with Alice for a few minutes."

His eyebrow went straight up into his forehead. "One glass of champagne and a five-minute dance? That's what you're calling a party?"

She grinned sheepishly. "If I don't keep an eye on my arsehole cousins, they will rip this place to shreds and I don't think his parents will be too pleased when they sneak downstairs to check on us just to find a destroyed house."

"They are James Potter's parents. Pretty sure they are expecting a destroyed house."

Rose couldn't help but laugh at the truth behind that statement.

"Dance with me," he said with a hopeful grin. "You deserve to have a night off from worrying about everyone else and just worry about yourself."

Her smiled slowly faded as she glanced up at him. What he didn't know was that lately it seemed as if all she did worry about herself. "Alright," she said with a nod. "But there is no way in hell I'm partaking in that conga line."

* * *

 **Thursday, December 31** **st** **, 10:45 PM  
** **Potter Manor**

He watched her from afar. He watched her dance with Haydn. He watched her laugh with him when James found out about the rumor going around about him. He watched her accept a drink from him. He watched her be happy. He wanted to be happy for her but it was hard when he was so miserable.

"Scorpius Malfoy."

Scorpius jumped in surprise, pulling himself off the bottom stairwell he was currently resting on as he glanced up at Harry Potter. "Oh, hi," he murmured. "Checking up on the party, hm? "

Harry nodded. "I like to think that because James knows I'll be checking on him, the party won't get so out of control."

Scorpius' eyebrow shot upward.

"And then I remember this is James Potter we're talking about."

Any other time, Scorpius would have laughed. This time, he merely cracked a smile and shrugged.

The older man's eyes narrowed curiously as he stared at the young Slytherin. "So," he said, clearing his throat. "My niece, Rose, told me something very interesting about you."

"Whatever she said, it's a lie," he spoke. Blinking sheepishly, he glanced up at him. "Er…sorry, that's my automatic response when an adult tells me someone has ratted me out."

He shook his head. "This wasn't her ratting you out for anything."

 _Oh, shit. What has dear Rose been telling you, Harry Potter?_ "It wasn't?" was the best he could do.

"She seems to be rather fond of you, Scorpius."

He frowned uncertainly. "She is?"

"Does that surprise you?"

"Well, yes, but only because she doesn't exactly wear her emotions on her sleeves," he spoke with a depressed sigh.

Scorpius felt Harry's curious eyes on him. "You noticed that about her, hm?"

Scorpius shrugged. "Yeah."

He continued to gaze at him, making Scorpius slowly uncomfortable as if Harry could sense what Scorpius was thinking and feeling. "What else have you noticed about her?" Harry asked curiously.

He said nothing at first, wondering if it was some sort of trick. But as he considered the question carefully, he was struck by just how much he had really gotten to know Rose Weasley without even trying. "She pretends to be this strong, confident girl but she feels a lot of pressure from the world because of who her parents are. Everything she does is on behalf of these expectations. Nothing she ever does is for herself. Which means she's basically the least selfish person I know, in contrast with myself who has been known to have a selfish streak every now and then. One of the things I love to do is make her smile because it doesn't happen often. I don't think she's very happy but she's quite good at pretending everything is fine. She's afraid of being swallowed up in life. She wants to be her own person but isn't sure what that means. She doesn't want to follow in her family's footsteps but doesn't know how to break away. And she wants to fall in love one day but isn't sure she even knows what love is. She's had her share of broken hearts and isn't ready to put the pieces back together again. And I think she's scared of a lot of things, not that she'd ever admit that to anyone. She's scared of letting her parents down. She's scared of not being good enough. She's scared of being judged. Which ultimately just means she's scared of being herself. Which is unfortunate because who she is, is pretty great."

The words had come spewing out unexpectedly but he had found himself unable to stop. Ask him to talk about Rose Weasley and he probably could go on for days. There was so much about her Scorpius was convinced no one else knew. Not because they haven't had the chance to get to know her but because she pretended to be someone she wasn't. In a way, she was exactly like him. Maybe that was why they seemed to complement each other so well.

Or at least they used to.

When Scorpius glanced up at Harry, he saw surprise staring back at him. "It's taken me seventeen years to see all of that in her," Harry spoke. "And you only figured it out in three months."

Scorpius' ears turned pink. "I'm perceptive," he muttered.

Harry sighed, slowly shaking his head. "No," he urged. "You care about her."

"No, I don't," he was quick to say because that was his usual response. "I mean…"

His eyebrow shot upward. "It's okay to care about someone, Scorpius."

Not when they turn around and crush his heart and soul. "I'm a Malfoy," he drawled bitterly. "We're brought up not to have a caring bone in our bodies."

Harry frowned, fiddling with his glasses nervously. "Do you really believe that?"

Scorpius said nothing at first, considering the question carefully. It was how he was brought up. His grandfather was cold and emotionless. His father said the only thing worth caring about was prestige. His mother left so it's not like she believed in the value of caring. He had grown up with the belief that caring about someone was a sign of weakness. He had mostly believed it, too, until Rose came along and changed his mind. Right before she changed it back again.

"Yeah," Scorpius murmured, his stomach tightening. "I guess I have to."

All caring ever got him was a broken heart so clearly he had been right not to care all those years.

He was ready not to care again.

And thus, Scorpius Malfoy had found his New Year's resolution.

* * *

 **A/N:** I know I said there'd be some Rose-Scorpius interaction but you'll have to wait for the second half of NYE's for that. Review and I'll update!


	16. A Happy New Year

**A/N:** Well, I promised you the next chapter quickly after the last and here I am delivering that promise. We get the second half of the New Year's Eve chapter and along with it comes some heavy Scorpius & Rose interaction. So all I can say is enjoy!

 **Disclaimer:** J.K. Rowling owns this world. I just write in it.

* * *

 **A Different Kind Of Love Story**

Chapter 15: A Happy New Year

* * *

 **Thursday, December 31** **st** **, 11:20 PM  
** **Potter Manor**

"Rose."

She froze mid-laugh, turning away from her conversation with Albus to glance up at the very familiar voice. "What are you doing here, Cameron?"

The Ravenclaw's eyes shifted nervously around the room. "My sister is dating one of your cousins. She convinced me to tag along."

Rose frowned. "Which cousin?"

"Fred."

Rose rolled her eyes at the same time she heard Albus snort behind her. "So basically she's his fling of the week."

Cameron only shrugged. "I don't know. I don't really involve myself in her love life."

"More like sex life," Albus muttered under his breath, knowing all too well what Fred's reputation was like.

Rose glanced over her shoulder and shot her cousin a warning look.

"Can I, uh…can I talk to you, Rose?" Cameron asked softly. "Alone?"

Albus looked like he wanted to argue, but Rose elbowed him in the stomach. "You've had six months to talk to me, Cameron, and you've pretty much said nothing."

"I know," he said, hanging his head shamefully. "But…well, it's New Year's Eve and I thought you deserved to start the New Year right."

"No," she scoffed. " _You_ wanted to start the New Year's right. This is about you trying to rid yourself of your guilty conscience. But that's on you, not me."

"Rose, please-"

"Please nothing," she sighed. "Our relationship is in the past, Cam. We've both gotten over it. We've both moved on. There's no need for you to be standing here trying to make amends. I'm over it."

She had said those words several times to herself since she found him with Amanda Gray but she realized in that moment that tonight was the first time she actually believed it. She was over it and she was over him. She had Scorpius Malfoy to thank for that.

Then again, she also had Scorpius Malfoy to thank for her current broken heart so she hardly felt any sort of appreciation of him.

"And what if I say I miss you?" Cameron asked with a hint of pleading.

Rose blinked in surprise. "I'd say you're an idiot if you ever thought I'd take you back."

He cringed and he wasn't the only one. Rose was aware of a small crowd formulating around them as they anxiously watched the interaction between the former couple.

"I made a mistake," he sighed. "I got greedy. You were the best thing that ever happened to me and instead of appreciating it, I took you for granted."

"You wouldn't have treated me the way you did if you really believed I was the best thing that ever happened to you.".

The uneasy expression in his face told Rose the conversation wasn't going the way he had hoped. "I sought you out because I wanted to apologize to you," he spoke bluntly. "You deserve that in the very least."

"I already said I wasn't interested in listening to what you had to say. Yet you're still standing here."

"You haven't walked away either."

"Watch me," she spoke coolly, turning her back on him in an attempt to slip into the crowd.

"No, please stop," he asked, reaching out and grabbing her arm.

She turned around to glare at him. "You just don't know how to take a hint, do you?"

"Nope," he said with a teasing grin.

She found it less than amusing. "Just because you're used to getting what you want doesn't mean you're going to get it from me. Walk away, Cameron, before I make you."

He let out a frustrated grunt. "I will once you listen to me."

" _No_ ," she snapped, her eyes filling with hatred. "We both know what this is, Cam. You're pretending to miss me and you're pretending you're sorry because I'm the only girl who ever said no to getting into your bed. I wasn't interested then and I'm not interested now. So let go of my arm and leave me the hell alone."

Frustration flickered across the Ravenclaw's face. "That's not why I'm here!"

"I believe she requested you to let go of her arm," Albus' voice chimed in threateningly.

"Stay out of this, Potter," Cameron snapped. "This isn't your fight."

" _Cameron_ ," Rose spoke sharply, struggling to remove herself from his grasp. "Let me go!"

"Why won't you give me the chance to talk to you?" he pleaded. "Why won't you just hear me out?"

"Because you don't deserve it!" she snapped, trying to pull away from him, but his grip was too tight.

" _Please, Rose_."

"No!" she groaned. " _Now let me go_!"

Albus pushed himself away from the crowd that was forming around them to punch Cameron in the face.

It would have worked, too, had someone else not gotten there before him.

Albus stood there in shock as he watched Cameron finally let go of Rose and stagger backward towards the ground. Rose scrambled away from her ex-boyfriend in slight panic and both she and Albus turned to the man behind the fist. Neither were entirely surprised to see Scorpius standing there, seething.

"A girl shouldn't have to ask three times to be let go," Scorpius sneered in the Ravenclaw's face.

Holding his hand over the bridge of his nose, Cameron glared up at Scorpius. "Why in bloody Salazar's name are you always punching me, Malfoy?"

"Next time, don't disrespect her and I won't have to punch you," he snarled.

"Since when did you come to Rose Weasley's rescue?" he barked. "First, you punch me last June _when it was none of your business_ , and now you do the same, _when it's none of your business_?"

"You punched him last June?" Rose finally spoke, her voice full of confusion and awe as she stared at Scorpius. Thinking back, she recalled the black eye Cameron wore for a week after they broke up. She had never given it a second thought until now.

Scorpius frowned, glancing towards the redhead nervously. "He deserved it."

She could only stare at him, wondering why he had bothered hitting her ex-boyfriend when at the time, he cared nothing for her. Nothing he ever did seemed to make any sense to her. She was beginning to think she never should have tried to get to know him at all.

"I hope you don't expect me to thank you," she spoke coolly before turning her back on him and heading into the crowd.

"I've learned not to expect much from you, _Weasley_."

Rose froze, the dig towards her surname subtle but she knew exactly what he was hinting at. It was his way of reminding her that her insult to him was the reason they were both avoiding each other. He sounded bitter but when she slowly turned around to face him, she was confused by the curiosity in his eyes instead of anger.

"Why did you say it?" he asked.

She didn't have to ask he was referring to. "I thought that was obvious."

Slowly, he shook his head. "I don't think you meant it."

Her heart tightened at the blunt truth of his words. He always did seem to know how to read her. It had once been endearing but now it just put a strain on her already feeble heart. "What makes you say that?" she stalled.

Hesitating, he shrugged. "Because I know you."

She frowned in slight annoyance, for it bothered her that he was standing in front of her questioning her intentions when he had no intentions at all. "If you know me so well then you should already know why I said it."

His lips pursed and she had to turn away from the intensity in his gaze. He could feel his heart begin to race as he spoke next. "I think you said it because you knew it was the only thing you could say that would get me to walk away."

She jerked her head up in surprise. Her lie was now out in the open and he was staring at her with an unexpected pleading in his desperate eyes. She opened her mouth to tell him he was wrong but the words never formed. They would have both known it would have been a lie anyway.

He knew his reasons for needing to walk away. The question was, what were her reasons.

"What I don't know is why you needed me to walk away," he spoke softly.

She felt her heart beating rapidly in her chest, very aware of the many stares she was on the receiving end of from the crowd. She could blame the crowd on the fact that there was no way she could admit the truth. That she had fallen in love with a guy who'd never love her back. That she had been played. That her heart had been toyed with. She couldn't tell Scorpius that she had needed to find a way to get rid of him first before he got rid of her. Hurting him was far easier than letting him hurt her.

It hadn't worked. They both got hurt anyway.

"It doesn't matter," she murmured and her heart sunk at that unfortunate realization. "You and both know that we had needed to just walk away from each other before…" She trailed off, unsure what the rest of that sentence was. Before either of them got hurt? Before they got in too deep? Before things got confusing?

Too late. She had been in too deep when things got confusing and she got hurt because of it.

Not that he needed to know that.

"Before what?" he urged.

She quickly shook her head. "Doesn't matter," she said for a second time. "What matters is that we had needed to walk away and I made it easier to do so."

"Nothing about any of this is easy."

She could feel the tears prickling in the back of her eyes and it took everything inside of her to blink them away. "It could be if you just _walked away_ ," she pleaded.

He stared at her, realizing in that moment that the last thing he wanted to do was walk away from her.

It was what he so desperately wanted to say to her but he knew he couldn't. It was so clear to him that he wanted her. He wanted her so badly it physically hurt. But she deserved a new start in the New Year and he was anything but. She didn't want him. She could never want him. And he was kidding himself if he thought that could ever change. He wasn't the kind of guy that girls like Rose Weasley wanted. He was abrasive and crude, always choosing to say what he shouldn't over what the right thing to say was. He was arrogant because he felt that he had to be. He couldn't be a nice guy or he feared people would walk all over him. He didn't believe in commitment and love was the furthest thing from his mind.

Or at least it was until Rose walked into his life.

But as Rose said, maybe none of it mattered. Maybe they still needed to be the people they used to be. It was the only way either of them knew how to survive.

"I think we both know walking away won't make things easier," he spoke softly. "But I'll do it anyway because that's clearly what you want."

He turned to disappear through the crowd, but her next words stopped him. "It's what you want, too, isn't it?"

His heart skipped a beat as the question rang through his ears. No, it isn't what he wanted. But he couldn't exactly tell her that, right? She had wanted him to walk away because it made it easier for her to turn to Haydn. He wouldn't be in her way anymore. He wouldn't be there dragging her down. He wouldn't be confusing her every thought. There was a reason she had needed him to walk away and while he still wasn't entirely sure why, it was clear she had her reasons and he wasn't about to fight for her when she didn't want him to.

"Yeah," he muttered with a defeated shrug, "It's what I want."

And without another word, he turned his back and disappeared through the crowd.

Rose could only watch him retreat, wondering why he even bothered coming to her rescue when he didn't even care about her.

Blinking back the tears that began to form once again, she glanced down at Cameron who was staring at her skeptically. "What the hell was that about?" he questioned.

She glanced over at Albus who was also looking at her oddly.

All she could do was shake her head and stare back down at the boy she had once believed had broken her heart.

But she had never known how much a heart could hurt until Scorpius came along.

"You should get some ice on that eye," she muttered to Cameron before turning on her heel and walking away.

* * *

 **Thursday, December 31** **st** **, 11:35 PM  
** **Potter Manor**

The only place Rose could think of to escape entirely was in Albus' room. She wasn't at all surprised that Alice had come after her.

When Alice entered the room, she found Rose sitting on the floor up against the bed with the tears rolling down her cheeks. "I hate myself for crying over him so much," she whispered, hugging her knees to her body.

"It only means you care."

"Yeah, and a lot of good that did me," she whispered, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

Alice joined Rose on the floor. "He cares, too, y'know."

Rose shook her head. "He doesn't know how to care."

"Well, that's a little harsh, isn't it?"

"Is it?" Rose snorted. "From the beginning, it was all about him. Our arrangement was a way to keep himself occupied without worrying about some girl falling for him. (That clearly backfired). It was about getting what he wanted. He set the rules. It was always under his terms. We hooked up in my room because that gave him the chance to leave on his own free will. He was the one who got annoyed when I decided to go on a date with someone. It was always about him. He doesn't know how to care about anyone but himself."

Alice glanced at Rose curiously before saying, "Something tells me that punching Cameron didn't have anything to do with him and everything to do with you."

Rose frowned, slowly shaking her head. "I don't know why he did that."

"Once again I must say, _because he cares_."

"He doesn't," she whispered furiously. "He can't."

Alice's eyebrow shot up. "He can't care?"

She shook her head vigorously.

Alice's eyes narrowed as a realization struck her. "Rose," she spoke slowly, "Do you actually believe he doesn't care about you? Or are you just trying to convince yourself that he doesn't?"

Rose had to turn away from her friend because the question was one she had considered so many times. She was so certain he didn't care but she realized it was only because she made herself believe that after everything Leona had said to her. She had never given Scorpius the opportunity to defend himself. And she knew it was because she was too afraid to find out what he might have had to say.

She reason that Rose felt so hurt and brokenhearted wasn't because she believed everything Leona had said. It was because Rose had fallen for someone who had told her so many times before that he didn't believe in love or relationships or commitment. And she wasn't naïve to think that he'd change for her. Just because he pretended to show a different side to her hadn't meant that it was real. It might have felt real to her but that was precisely the reason she had needed him to walk away. And when he hadn't bothered to fight for her she knew she had done the right thing. He had gone along with it as if that was his plan all along. He hadn't tried to stop her. He hadn't been upset or even surprised about it. _He had gone along with it_.So there shouldn't have been any lingering feelings for either one of them because they had both known it was what they needed.

If only her heart could see that.

"He doesn't care," she murmured and this time she almost had herself convinced. Almost.

Alice was starting to get annoyed and Rose could see it. "That didn't quite answer my question."

Rose shot her an equally exasperated look. "He doesn't believe in love or commitment, Ace," she snapped. "It's one of the few things he's drilled into me since our little arrangement began. And you know that? I'm beginning to think he has the right idea."

Alice blinked in surprise. "I don't think you really believe that."

Rose said nothing because they both knew Alice was right.

"I think you're scared."

Rose had a feeling she'd regret it, but she asked, "Of _what_?"

She offered her friend a sad smile. "Being with him."

They were only three words but they sparked a jolt of anguish in the center of her heart that sent hot tears to the back of Rose's eyes. "You don't know him, Ace," she whispered vulnerably. "You don't know him at all. You don't know that his father only cares about his family's legacy and not his actual son. You don't know that his mother abandoned him when he was twelve. You don't know that he thinks his grandfather hates him because Scorpius doesn't stand for what he stands for. You don't know that he's never witnessed any kind of love before. You don't know that he's felt neglected his whole life. You don't know that his family broke him and he'll never come back from that. You don't know that he'd rather feel nothing than feel empty all the time. You don't know that he doesn't believe in love. That he believes love to be a lie. That love is the ultimate weakness. _You don't know_. But I do. And I refuse to fall for a guy who could never love me back."

Alice contemplated her words very carefully, her heart aching at every word she spoke. She saw the sadness in Rose's eyes only grow as she spoke, her best friend truly believing in the deepest crevice of her heart that Scorpius Malfoy could never want to be with her. "Problem is," she spoke softly, "You already have fallen for him."

A tear splashed against her cheek at the unfortunate truth of Alice's words. "It doesn't matter," she said. "He walked away."

"Because you made him walk away!" Alice groaned. "Good Godric, you guys need to stop trying so damned hard to protect your hearts and just listen to what they're saying!"

Rose grew quiet then, swiping at the tears slipping down her face. She said nothing at first, knowing that Alice was right in saying Rose was protecting her heart. She knew she was. She knew she had sabotaged her so-called relationship with Scorpius because that was far easier than telling him she had feelings for him. Even now, it was hard admitting that her heart ached for him. She wasn't supposed to love him. She was supposed to hate him. She spent years hating him. Hating him had been so easy. Loving him was not.

She didn't know why Alice was so convinced Scorpius had feelings for her, too, but she knew the truth. He had said so many times he didn't believe in love. His mother left and his father only saw him as a name and his grandfather didn't care about him and that was enough to build a fortress around his heart he refused to dig away at. It boiled down to the fact that he could never care about her the way she so desperately cared for him. And it was that reason and that reason alone that the only answer was walking away.

"I know what my heart is saying," she whispered, turning to Alice with a frown. "It's saying that all I want—no, all I _need_ is for this year to be over. No one ever told me that being seventeen meant catching my prat of a boyfriend cheating on me. No one ever told me it meant falling for the one guy who could never fall for me back. No one ever told me it meant broken hearts. No one ever told me that it meant learning the meaning of love right before wishing that I hadn't. No one told me that it meant sitting in my cousin's room crying my eyes out minutes before the clock is expected to strike midnight wishing that I could do the whole year over again."

"Rose-"

"But I can't do the year over again," she muttered, shaking her head. "All I can do is hope that this next year goes far better than this past year has."

Alice wanted to say something comforting. She wanted to continue pleading with Rose. She wanted to find a way to convince her that Scorpius felt something towards her just like Rose felt something towards him. But Rose's next words cut her off.

"And the best way to ensure that that happens is to start the New Year without him."

Alice blinked. "What? No, Rose, you have to talk to him!"

"Why?" Rose spoke bluntly. "So that I can watch him walk away again? What's the point?"

"The point is you two are fighting so bloody hard to stay away from each other when that's the last thing you both actually want!"

" _He doesn't want me_."

"He does!" Alice argued back, swiftly jumping off the floor to tower over her friend. "He as good as told me!"

Rose blinked, pulling herself off the floor as well. "What?"

Alice's lips pursed. "I talked to him tonight," she muttered. "He didn't come out and say it but he didn't have to. He has feelings for you, Roe."

Rose didn't know what to think or believe as she stared at her friend in utter belief. "You had no right to talk to him," she snapped.

Alice shrugged. "Well, clearly you weren't going to so I took it upon myself-"

"Because I have nothing to say!" she roared. "Maybe I gave him a reason to walk away but he didn't fight it because he knows it was the only thing he could do. It doesn't matter that I fell for him. It doesn't matter what he feels. What matters is that _we are not good for each other_."

"You're not even giving yourselves a chance."

Rose felt like she was just going around and around in circles. There was nothing Alice could say to convince her that going after Scorpius would be a good idea. The idea that he might have gone and developed feelings for her may have complicated things but it didn't change them. He walked away because he knew neither one of them would act on their feelings. He was still the guy who was convinced he lacked a heart and she was still the girl who was too afraid to be with someone else who could easily break her.

Again.

"I'm done talking about this," Rose said stubbornly, glaring at her friend. "With you. With him. _I'm done_. I'm going home and I'm starting the New Year without any of this hanging over my head."

" _But_ -"

"Happy New Year, Ace," she said.

" _Rose_ -"

But Rose rushed out the door and disappeared.

Which meant Alice had very little time to find Scorpius and convince him to stop Rose from leaving.

* * *

 **Thursday, December 31** **st** **, same time  
** **Potter Manor**

Scorpius found himself sitting on the back patio, grateful for the slightest bit of heat emanating from the heat lamps.

If ever he had the opportunity to tell Rose the truth about how he felt about her, it would have been the moment she asked him what he wanted. But he opted out. Because he had come to the conclusion that it wasn't about him anymore. It didn't matter what he wanted. What he felt. What he was going through. If he really cared about her, he should want to give her the best. And he certainly wasn't it.

"Hey."

Scorpius stiffened as Albus slid on to the bench beside him. "Hey, Al."

"So," he spoke coolly, "You ready to tell me what's going on with you and Rose?"

"Nothing is go-"

" _Stop_!" Albus snapped at his friend and Scorpius jumped at the hostility in his voice. "I am tired of you saying it's nothing when it's clearly something. I'm tired of you saying you're fine when you're not. I am tired of you always pretending that everything in your goddamned life is sunshine and roses when we both know it's anything but! I'm done with the bullshit, Scorpius. So just tell me what the fuck is going on with you or feel free to find another best mate."

Any other time, Scorpius would have been shocked at the outburst. But Scorpius was too busy feeling sorry for himself to feel anything else. "I can't tell you," he choked out.

Albus let out an irritated grunt. "And why the hell not?"

Anguish crushed down on Scorpius' heart as he said, "Because you'll hate me."

Albus frowned. "Why would I hate you?"

Scorpius said nothing at first, his gaze reaching out into the darkness of the backyard, only the stars above illuminating any sort of light across the faint dusting of snow. "Because," he whispered, hanging his head shamefully, "I think I fell in love with your cousin."

Albus froze, gaping at his friend in utter disbelief as his eyes slowly widened at the implication of his words. He had assumed something was going on between his best mate and his cousin but the idea of love had never come to mind. No words fell from his mouth that hung open in clear shock. His expression remained frozen with bewilderment before it quickly turned into irritation. He cleared his throat before saying, rather ruggedly, "Oh, you _better_ be talking about Louis."

Scorpius let out a moan as he placed his head into his hands. "No," he murmured. "You know who I'm talking about."

Albus' eyes blazed with rage. " _Dammit, Scor,"_ he growled, his fists clenching at his side. "I told you to stay away from her, not fall in lovewith her!"

"I know! _"_ Scorpius whined into his hands. " _I know._ It wasn't supposed to happen!"

"Well, when the hell did it?"

Scorpius hesitated before picking his head up out of his hands with a sigh. "I-I don't know," he spoke softly. "It just happened over time. It shouldn't have. It wasn't supposed to. But…well, it did. She went from the girl I couldn't stand to the girl I couldn't stand not being around."

Albus' eyebrow jumped upward he let out a low grumble. "I thought she was always the girl you couldn't stand!" he groaned.

Scorpius could only place his head in his hands again.

Albus sighed. "How did this even happen, Scorpius?"

Scorpius grimaced. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure you don't want to know the details."

Albus' eyes grew with anger as he pulled himself off the bench, now towering over his friend. " _Please tell me you did not fuck my cousin_."

Scorpius said nothing.

So he wasn't all that surprised when Albus' fist came flying into his nose. He yelped, doubling over as his hands went to his face immediately. " _Dammit, Albus!_ "

"Well, now that we've got that over with," Albus snapped, shaking his fist out with a wince. "What the hell are you going to do to win her back?"

Scorpius hesitated, glancing up towards his friend with his hands still covering his nose. "Uh…come again?"

Albus glanced down at Scorpius with a curious frown before reluctantly rejoining him on the bench. He sighed, slowly shaking his head before saying, "The girl is fucking miserable without you, mate. Hugo told me she cried in her room for the entire week leading up to Christmas Eve. And she missed the last Quidditch practice before break. She forgot to delegate the Christmas decorating to the prefects. She skipped meals. She slept all day. Refused to talk to anyone. She was a walking zombie. And now I know why. _It's because of you_. So go and tell her how you feel before her next step is to jump off a bridge."

Scorpius could only gape at him. "You…you want me to be with her?"

He snorted. "Not really but it's not about what I want," he scoffed. "Te only time I've seen her happy this year was when she was with you and I don't want to take that away from her. It's clear you're what she wants so I'll just have to support her, even if this means she's possibly going insane."

Scorpius found no amusement in Albus' words. "What she wants is Haydn freaking Thomas," Scorpius muttered, removing his hand from his face and stretching his jaw out with another wince.

Albus' brow furrowed. "What does Haydn Thomas have to do with you two?"

"Well, she's dating the guy so that kinda screams that she doesn't care about me."

Albus blinked. "Now wait one second, have you been holding back from her because you think she's dating Haydn Thomas?"

"She deserves someone like him," he muttered sullenly. "He's a much better fit."

" _For fuck's sake, Scorpius_!" Albus groaned, once again pulling himself off the bench to properly glare at his friend. "She isn't dating Haydn Thomas! She went on that one date with him to Hogsmeade and she called it quits after like two hours! And you know why? Because for some godforsaken reason, she was apparently into you!"

Scorpius sat upright, his eyes widening in shock at the realization that part of the reason he had been so angry with her was a figment of his imagination. "She's…she's not dating him?"

" _NO_!"

Everything that Scorpius had believed for the past three weeks was now turned completely upside down. He had kept his distance because he thought she didn't care. He had convinced himself she wasn't worth it because he was under the impression she had moved on. He slept the days away and drank heavy amounts of firewhisky to forget her because he thought that was what she wanted. Suddenly, everything he believed to be clear was hazy.

Everything except for the fact that she still deserved better than him.

Haydn Thomas wasn't the core issue. Whether she wanted to be with the guy or not didn't mean he wasn't a far better fit for her than Scorpius was.

"Oh" was all he could think to say.

Albus narrowed his eyes at him. " _Oh?_ That's all you have to say?"

Scorpius nodded miserably. "Yeah, because the really unfortunate part is that it doesn't matter if she's dating him or not," he eventually muttered. "You said you didn't want me with her and you were right to think that. She deserves someone so much better. I'll never be good enough for her. That'll never change."

Albus frowned, his eyebrow quirking at the heavy defeat in his mate's words. They held such insecurity and guilt and Albus felt his jaw tighten with the realization of what Scorpius was doing. He may be thinking he was protecting Rose but all he was doing was trying to protect himself from getting hurt from any more people he cared about.

Albus cleared his throat. "I'm going to say something to you, Scor, that I have held inside for six years now because it's time you heard it so listen carefully," he spoke firmly, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Just because your father only sees you as someone to pass on the Malfoy legacy and just because your mother left and just because your grandfather is against what you stand for does _not_ mean you are worthless. Don't you dare let them define who you get to be. The only person that should ever get to do that is you."

Scorpius felt his cheeks flush with slight embarrassment, the mere mention of his broken family causing a twinge of aching in his heart. "This isn't about them, Al," he muttered.

"Of course it is," he sighed. "You've never considered yourself good enough for anyone because your family gave you every reason to believe that."

"Al, please don't-"

"You are giving up something great because you're too afraid to feel something. To _be_ something. Because you're too afraid of turning out like them."

"Stop-"

" _But you are not your family_. You are not your father who only sees what he wants to see. You are not your mother who proved she was just a coward. You are not your grandfather who doesn't let himself love anyone."

" _Will you quit_ -"

"You. Deserve. To. Be. Happy," Albus emphasized, gripping Scorpius' shoulder tightly. "And don't you dare let your family ever make you think otherwise."

"You don't know what you're-"

"I do know what I'm talking about," he urged, shooting him a look.

"Will you quit interrupting-"

"Go after her, Scor."

Scorpius glared at him. "Seriously, stop interrupting m-"

" _Go after her, Scorpius_."

Scorpius turned away from his friend with an irritated sigh, slowly shaking his head. His heart felt heavy, though he couldn't be sure if it was because of everything Albus just spoke about or if it was because of Rose.

In the end, he knew it was because of both.

He pretended to be stronger than he was but his heart ached every day knowing that his mother abandoned him and his father only saw him for his name. It ached with the belief that love couldn't conquer all. He hated his family because all they ever gave him was heartache.

He was afraid of turning out like them. He didn't want to hurt Rose and make her feel anywhere close to the heartbreak he felt every single day he woke up. He couldn't do that to her. He wouldn't be able to live with himself knowing he could cause someone that kind of pain.

"I can't," he choked out with a tiny shake of the head.

Albus frowned. "What's stopping you?"

Scorpius' lips thinned as he turned away from his friend's scrutinizing gaze. "She deserves someone who knows how to love her," he muttered. "And that's hardly me."

"Do you think any of us know what the hell love is?" Albus sighed. "It doesn't matter if we grew up with it or not. It's a scary concept for anyone involved. It means trusting someone with your whole heart. It means knowing that one day they could break your heart and loving them anyway. It means being afraid of hurting them and being hurt in return. It means letting yourself be happy and being so afraid that one day that'll be taken away. But if you ask me, once you find the right girl, it's all worth it."

Scorpius considered his words, realizing that Albus was right. He wasn't just afraid of hurting her. He was afraid of getting hurt himself. He had been hurt too many times to count to put himself in a position that could easily get him hurt again.

But was loving Rose worth the risk?

That was really what it boiled down to. If Scorpius believed that Rose was the right girl for him than nothing else mattered. Their families and their backgrounds and their fears and insecurities shouldn't stop them from being with each other if that was what they wanted.

"So is she worth it?" Albus asked Scorpius desperately.

Scorpius ignored him, thoughts of Rose running through his mind. He had fallen for a girl who was wrong for him in so many ways and yet everything felt so right. She was the only person in his life who seemed to actually understand the struggles he had always gone through. The only person he had ever spoke to about his family. And she had always been there to remind him that his father and grandfather and mother's struggles were not his. She had always been there for him and it hit him then that he never wanted her to stop being there for him. He never wanted to be without her. _She was worth it_.

But was it enough?

"Of course Rose Weasley is worth it," a new voice echoed his own sentiments as Alice came storming outside towards them. "But if you don't go after her right now, Malfoy, you're going to lose her forever because she's about five seconds away from flooing home."

" _What_?" Scorpius cried, quickly scrambling off the bench.

"She's upset and frustrated and—why the hell is your nose bleeding?"

"Al punched me," Scorpius said, reaching out to smear the blood away from his nose. "She's leaving right now?"

"Why'd he punch you?"

" _We don't have time for chit-chat, Alice_ ," Albus groaned. "Scorpius, if ever there was a time to be impulsive and listen to that damned heart of yours, it'd be now. So go after her or I swear to Merlin I will have no problem punching you again!"

He hesitated. "What if she doesn't want to see me?"

" _You won't know that unless you go after her_ ," he pleaded.

Scorpius stood frozen, a million thoughts running through his mind that he was finding difficult to sift through. Hesitating, he glanced towards Albus. "She's really not with Haydn Thom-"

" _No_!" Albus groaned. "She's far too into you to be into him."

 _She was into him._

Did he believe those words? After everything she had said and done the past few weeks, could he really believe she had any sort of feelings for him? If she didn't, she couldn't blame him. He hadn't exactly been all that forthcoming about his own. But then again, neither had she. He realized then he had no clue what she was really thinking when it came to the two of them. He had been under the impression she had been having her fun with him before running off to have a real relationship with Haydn but apparently that was the farthest thing from the truth.

Now more than anything he was desperate to know what she felt. He feared she still wanted nothing to do with him. It would be yet another person in his life who felt he deserved little. His mother had left, his father only cared about his last name, and his grandfather barely gave him a second thought. He was used to being a nobody to people.

He knew the safer option in that moment was to not go after her. He could give her the life she probably deserved by staying away from her and let himself continue to believe his heart was better off not loving her. He would be fine. He wouldn't be happy but he'd be content. It would be easy staying put, living the life he had long expected he would.

Or he could go after her and possibly get all the things he never thought he needed but he now so desperately wanted with Rose Weasley.

He thought about her smile and the honesty in her eyes. He thought about how she made him want to be a better person, something he had never particularly striven for in the past. He let himself be the Malfoy everyone thought he should be. But she made him want to be just Scorpius. The Scorpius who chased after his own dreams, not the dreams of his father. The Scorpius who was able to let his guard down. The Scorpius who did actually care what people thought of him. She made him see that his family's background didn't have to define who he was. That he could be anyone he wanted to be. He had never believed in himself until she believed in him.

He knew instantly he had to go after her. He didn't care if it backfired. He didn't care if she turned him down. He didn't care if she laughed in his face or pushed him away. She deserved to know the truth. It would be easy walking away from her for good but everything in his heart was telling him to go after her. And it was about time he didn't just tell her that he cared but he showed her how much.

She was worth the risk.

She was worth everything.

He ran past Alice, ignoring her as she cheered, and hastened into the house, pushing himself through the hordes of people all gathering for those last five minutes of the year. He shoved his way through the kitchen, sped through the dining room, spilled into the hallway, and ran at top speed towards the sitting room where he knew the fireplaces were housed. He pushed people out of the way. Drinks spilled as he whizzed by. He heard the shouts of anger towards him, but he didn't care. He needed to find Rose.

And that's when he saw her about to head into the sitting room, weaving her own way through the crowd of people lounging about the foyer.

"Rose, _wait_!"

She froze, whirling around at the sound of his voice. She wasn't the only one who stopped at Scorpius' voice booming through the hallway. Several people looked up, curious as to what Scorpius Malfoy needed with Rose Weasley.

He pushed himself through the crowds, aware of the amusing smirk resting on Lily's face from where she stood huddled in Wes Taylor's arms. He could feel the curious scowls on Fred and James' expression. He stiffened as Louis and Roxanne rolled their eyes. He noticed them all but all he really saw was Rose.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she muttered with slight irritation.

He cringed at her use of his last name. He turned away from her with a frown, glancing around at all of the probing eyes from the spectators. Clearing his throat hesitantly, he glanced back at her and said, "Er...can I talk to you alone perhaps?"

She studied him an his frazzled expression before slowly shaking her head. "No," she spoke softly. "Everything you ever said to me when we were alone before has turned out to be a lie so why would I give you the opportunity to lie to me some more?"

He stared at her, stunned. He saw a flash of anger in her flushed cheeks but her eyes showed nothing but pain. Pain that he knew he had caused. He hated himself for doing that to her. "I never lied to you. Not once," he pleaded, shaking his head. "Everything I ever said to you was true."

She shook her head in denial. "It doesn't even matter," she whispered. "None of it does. So why the hell are you even here?"

"Because it does matter to me," he responded desperately. "And I know it matters to you, too."

A glare settled into her pained expression. "You don't know a damned thing about me."

"I do," he said almost immediately. "I know the real you. The you who got her heart broken last year and pretended not to be bothered by it. The you who was afraid to let her guard down. Afraid to let someone else in. The you who just needed to now feel anything for a while because that was better than feeling hurt all the time. I know the you who pretends to be so strong and confident in public but who lets herself be vulnerable with me. I know-"

"Stop," she pleaded, shaking her head. "Just...stop."

Scorpius glanced around at the crowd, aware that they were all staring at him in shock and confusion and a little annoyance. A public scene was not what he anticipated but if the only way to get her to see that he was being real with her was with everyone else hearing the truth, too, he'd do that. For her.

"And I know you know the real side of me, too, Rose. The side I've never shown anyone before."

She gaped at him, her eyes darkening. "Oh, I know the real side alright. The problem is that so-called real side is the exact side you've been showing everyone all these years," she snapped. "You really are just the manipulative prat who weasels his way into some girl's heart just to break it without remorse. You have always been the guy you pretended not to be with me! That's what you do! Leona was right about you. You're a womanizing asshole and you always will-"

" _Leona_?" Scorpius said, blinking with confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Rose's lips pursed as she slowly shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

" _Stop saying that_ ," he pleaded. "It does matter! It matters to me."

She looked at him, her eyes filling with such overwhelming angst for the boy she loved standing in front of her. "Nothing matters to you," she whispered. "You're the guy who uses his family issues to draw girls in. Who gets them to trust you. Who confides in them. You're the guy who claims all the girls in your life are special. That they mean something to you when they don't. You're the guy who breaks hearts, Malfoy. You're not the guy who cares."

Her words jostled the already existing ache in his heart as he stared at her, sensing an unexpected hollowness in her eyes. And then suddenly, out of nowhere, it dawned on him what she was saying. "Leona told you all of that," he spoke in awe. "That's why you came back that day so angry with me. That's why you said what you felt you had to say. That's why you needed me to walk away. Because you were afraid Leona was right. So you wanted to hurt me before I could hurt you."

She had to turn away from him, her eyes burning with the threat of tears. She hadn't intended for him to find out the truth. She hadn't expected him to ever find out the lengths in which she'd go to protect her own heart. She suddenly felt naked and vulnerable and she hated him for making her feel that way. "No," she lied, shaking her head. "I just knew I was no different than any other girl you've ever been with. I knew how it was going to end so I just did it for you."

"Except you're different than them in every way," he choked out. "You see me for me, Rose. Not for the guy I pretend to be. Everything I ever said to you in private was real. I never lied to you. Never. I didn't have to. Because you always know what I'm thinking before I even think it. You understand me more than I even understand myself. You challenge me and you're insightful and I used to hate that about you because you always saw right through all of my bullshit but I need you to keep seeing through all of it. Because you make me a better person. You make me want to be a better person. For you. When I told you that I cared about you, I meant it. It wasn't some ploy. It wasn't a lie. That was real. What we had was real."

He saw the tears reflecting in her eyes, ignoring the crowd of people who were now furiously whispering amongst themselves about the content of his speech. He heard James ask loudly what the hell the two of them were going on about. But it went ignored. They all went ignored. Because he didn't care what they thought. He only cared what Rose thought.

Her bottom lip trembling, she whispered, "If that really is true, why did you let me end things without so much as a fight?"

He noticed the tremble in her words. He noticed the hesitation in her eyes. He noticed the flush of her cheeks. He noticed it all. She, just like him, was trying to act strong when inside she was screaming. And so he answered the question he knew she desperately needed an answer to. "I thought you were using me."

She blinked. "You thought I was using _you_?"

He nodded hesitantly. "I saw you with Thomas in the hallway."

She still looked confused until it dawned on her what he was saying. "Oh," she spoke. "Uh, that was nothing."

"I know that now."

She frowned curiously, wondering why any of it seemed to matter. Why they needed to correct each other and validate each other. It shouldn't make a difference. They were still two very different people who didn't always fit with each other. "It still doesn't matter though," she muttered.

He glared at her. "I thought I told you to stop saying that."

"Well, it doesn't!" she snapped hostilely. "You're still a goddamned Malfoy and I'm still a Weasley!"

Slowly he shook his head. "Maybe you're a Weasley to the rest of the world but to me, you're just Rose."

Her heart skipped a beat at the unexpected words of kindness, the words sounding far more distinguished than they probably should have. She felt herself grow lightheaded and she knew it wasn't because of the alcohol.

For so long, all she had wanted was him. But over the past week, she had stopped missing him and started reminding herself why they would never work. Yet now he stood in front of her telling her the one thing he knew she'd appreciate. It was enough to mess with her head. But it didn't change everything that had happened.

"What if it's not enough?" she asked, the desperation dripping from her words.

Scorpius frowned. He knew there were a lot of reasons not to be together. Her family standing behind him questioning everything they were saying was one of those reasons. The distaste their families had for each other was another. Her inability to let someone into her heart and his fear of love were the big reasons. But he didn't care anymore. He wanted to beat the odds. He wanted to be with her.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he said, "You'll always be enough for me."

She froze, her mouth hanging open, ignoring James and Louis who were now shouting in protest. She turned to glare at them, but her head was full of too much confusion over Scorpius that she wasn't sure she got her point across.

She said nothing as she turned back towards him, staring at him hesitantly as she wondered what it was that _she_ wanted. Once upon a time, that question would have been easy to answer. She would have wanted to fall in love and have someone love her the way her parents did. The way her uncles and aunts and grandparents loved each other. But then Cameron came along and made her think that love was overrated. She didn't want it anymore. Or maybe she just feared it. Whatever the reason was, she was happy to distract herself with Scorpius. He was supposed to be someone she could have fun with. Someone that could make her forget that fairytale ending she once believed in. Someone to pass the time with until the next guy came along to make her believe in love again. Only at some point in the past few months, Scorpius became that guy.

But she already said it wasn't enough and she still didn't believe so. She had been so broken when things had come to a crashing halt and she couldn't go through that again. Her heart was already so fragile and giving it to Scorpius would be a recipe for utter heartbreak. _She couldn't do it again_. Not with someone who didn't know what love was. And not with someone who didn't want to know.

"Why are you doing this?"

He blinked in confusion. "What?"

She felt the tears in her eyes threatening to fall and she blinked them away. She was not going to cry in front of Scorpius Malfoy and she was not going to cry in front of a crowd of people. Inside, she was heartbroken and vulnerable. But on the outside, she needed to pretend as if everything was okay. As if it wasn't taking everything inside of her to keep it together. No matter how many times she walked away or Scorpius walked away, it was as if they always found each other again. And on the last night of the year, all she wanted was to put him in the past. And he couldn't seem to let her do that. _Why couldn't he let her do that_?

"You were supposed to just walk away," she spoke desperately. "Why is it that you can't just walk away?"

Scorpius opened his mouth to tell her all the things he had been afraid to say for so long but the words struggled to be formed. He knew that the moment they were out there, he could never take them back. The moment he told her how he felt, he was opening himself up to a world of vulnerability. He'd be asking her to be a part of the world he had closed off for so long. He'd be tearing down the barriers built so high around his heart. He knew that there was a good chance that if he fought for her, she'd still find a way to tear him down. He had never planned on falling for Rose Weasley. But he did. And now he had no idea what he was supposed to do with that.

Staring at her, he thought back to three months earlier when she had meant nothing to him. When they had meant nothing to each other. When did that all change?

" _If it helps any, I don't plan on breaking your heart, Weaslet."_

" _I won't lie to you anymore, Weasley."_

" _We could be Scorpius and Rose to each other."_

 _"You're not a Weasley. You're just Rose."_

 _"And for the record, you're not just another notch on my bedpost."_

 _"I assumed by agreeing to a date with another bloke, that was your way of saying 'piss off' to me. Was it not?"_

 _"I think we may not be enemies anymore, Rose."_

 _"It's not monogamy I'm against. It's love in general."_

 _"Y'know, I'm beginning to think you may not be the asshole you always pretend to be, Scorpius."_

 _"That barrier's been there for six years, Rose. And it will continue to be there for as long as we know each other. It's never going away. We just can't let it define us."_

 _"Falling for someone is the easy part. Letting yourself love them is harder."_

 _"But it doesn't take a genius to realize that all girls ever really want is to find a guy who will fight for them."_

 _"Do everything you can to fight for her until she realizes she doesn't want to say no."_

 _"I shouldn't give a shit about you but apparently I do, Rose!"_

 _"Don't you dare tell me I don't care because for some goddamned reason, I do!"_

 _"Because maybe I don't think of you as that failure living in the shadows of your parents anymore, Rose!"_

 _"Then Rose lied because most people I know don't cry themselves to sleep for a week straight over someone they believed to be a prick."_

 _"She deserves to find someone who can care about her the way she deserves to be cared for. She deserves to be happy. To be loved."_

 _"She's scared of being herself. Which is unfortunate because who she is, is pretty great."_

 _"Maybe you're a Weasley to the rest of the world but to me, you're just Rose."_

" _I think I fell in love."_

Every moment he spent with her came flooding back to him in pieces of clarity. Every kiss they shared. Every laugh they spilled. Every secret they exposed. Every night they spent together. Every moan they pleaded. Everything about her and everything about him.

And suddenly, it was as if he wasn't standing in a hallway with a number of people staring at them and whispering about them. It was as if he wasn't scared and insecure. It was as if his hesitation about love no longer existed. The only thing that mattered was giving her the best reason in the world to stay because he couldn't bear the thought of losing her again.

"Because," Scorpius eventually croaked out, his voice soft against his tongue as he stared at her with hope in his eyes, "At some point in the past three months, I fell in love with you. And I don't want to start the New Year without you."

There was only a beat of silence before the hallway turned into a mess of gasps and cries of shock. Some people's mouths dropped open. Some were yelling out in disbelief. Some eyes were widening in horror. All coming from everyone except Rose.

"What the hell is he talking about!?" James' voice filled the room.

"Oh, I'm going to kill him!" Fred's voice growled.

" _Oh, will you two quit being such drama queens_!" Lily snapped at her brother and cousin.

James went ignored. Fred went ignored. Lily went ignored. They all went ignored. All thoughts and fears previously running through Rose's head went completely blank at the shocking confession that now lay dangling menacingly in the air. She froze in disbelief as the hallway now filled with a horde of very shocked people faded away, leaving just her and Scorpius staring at each other, she with shock in her eyes and he with hope. His words rang in her mind over and over again until she had them all perfectly memorized, hoping to make sense of them. But she couldn't.

"You don't believe in love," she eventually whispered when she found her voice again. Slowly, the muffled sounds of protest around her died out as the crowd waited in anticipated for what she had to say.

Scorpius nodded regretfully. "I didn't until I met you," he spoke. "Until I realized that my day isn't complete without hearing your laugh. Without seeing you even if it's just from afar. When I see you frown, I want to be the one to find a way to put a smile on your face. You're all I ever think about. When I'm with you, I don't ever want to let go. When I'm not with you, my heart aches. I've shared things with you I've never shared with anyone. Things I never even admitted to myself before admitting them to you. You know me better than I even know myself. You make me feel things I never thought I could feel. Happiness and pride and love and hope. Hope that maybe I haven't always been destined to be a failure. That maybe I can't be good enough for my grandfather or my mother or my father but it's okay because the only person I want to be good enough for is you."

She felt the tears well up in her eyes once again as the desperation hung from his every word.

"I know I probably don't deserve you," he continued when it was clear she couldn't say anything. "I know I'm not perfect. I can't promise you I'll always be worthy of loving you. I can't promise you that I won't make you mad from time to time. I can't promise that I'll always remember your birthday. I can't promise you I'll remember what your favorite flowers are. I can't promise you that I won't challenge your opinions. I can't promise you I won't gloat when I beat you in Quidditch. I can't promise you that I'll be able to fix all your problems. All I can promise you is that I will be there loving you every second of every day so that you don't have to face those problems alone."

He could barely hear his words over the loud thumping in his heart as he finished. "So I know I don't deserve you. I know I'm wrong for you in so many ways. I know I've made a lot of mistakes. But I also know that I love you and I hope you'll let me spend the rest of our lives proving to you how much."

Rose was quite certain she had stopped breathing, the ability to move or do anything completely lost on her. Scorpius Malfoy wasn't supposed to care about her. She had convinced herself that she was nothing to him. She pushed him away because _she_ was the one who went back on their promise to not involve any feelings with one another. And now he was standing in front of her telling her that she wasn't the only one.

"And why should I believe any of this?" she asked, no longer able to hold back the tears as they started to slip down her cheeks.

He took a step forward, instinctively reaching up and brushing a tear away from her face as he smiled warmly at her. "Well, one, because I just said all that in front of your family, giving them ample reason to kick my arse," he said with a nervous chuckle. "Two, because I once told you I'd never lie to you again and I meant it. And three…"

When he let the words trail off, she whispered, "And three?"

He breathed in a sharp intake of breath before exhaling slowly. "I never had any reason to believe in love until you came along and gave me all the reasons in the world."

She stared at him in disbelief, still trying to process all that Scorpius was saying to her. Her mind was a jumble of shock and confusion, unsure what her next move was supposed to be. He looked so desperate and hopeful, unlike anything she'd ever seen before, and as she dared to look up at him, she suddenly saw the man she had fallen in love with standing before her, not the man she believed never could.

 _He loved her._

And suddenly everything that she thought didn't matter mattered more than anything else in the world.

A slow smile broke out across her face. "You may reconsider when my father finds out about this."

Scorpius hesitated, not sure what to make of that. "Yeah, I'm pretty much assuming I'll be dead and buried in the ground when that happens," he muttered. He smiled and shrugged. "But loving you is worth the risk."

Her eyes shone with tears but this time they were happy tears. "You really love me?"

He smiled and nodded. "Do you think I'd be saying it if I didn't?"

Nothing seemed real about that moment. She had dreamed that he would one day be standing there begging her to take him back. She had spent hours thinking of this moment. She had hoped he could care about her the way she cared about him. But she never thought it would be possible. She had long convinced herself that they were mere fantasies. Fantasies that died out the moment she pushed him away.

And yet he came back. He refused to walk away. He refused to give up on them. He was standing in the middle of a crowded hallway fighting for her because he couldn't bear the idea of losing her. And as she stared back at him, she knew that while she'd always have that fear in the back of her head that one day, Scorpius could hurt her worse than anyone else ever could, she knew couldn't fathom the idea of letting him go again. She had tried pushing him away once before and he fought his way back to her.

If that wasn't love, she wasn't sure what was.

Her shy smile flickered with a light chuckle before she closed the already small gap between them and threw her arms around him. "Well, that's a relief," she whispered, "Because I'm pretty sure I love you, too, Scorpius."

His heart nearly stopped at her own confession. "Pretty sure?" he croaked.

Her grin grew. " _Definitely sure,_ " she whispered.

And so he grinned right back.

" _You do not love him_!" James shouted.

"BLASPHEMY!" Fred screeched.

"Get away from her!"

"I'm going to kick his ass!"

" _Will you two shut the hell up_?" Lily groaned.

"I'm going to kiss you now," Scorpius whispered in Rose's ear, ignoring the protests around him.

"I'm going to let you," she spoke, her eyes staring into his and seeing nothing but happiness.

As if on cue, the faint countdown to midnight started to fill other rooms of the manor until it trickled into the foyer.

" _7…6…5…4…3…2…1! Happy New Year_!"

Rose smiled at Scorpius and he smiled back. "Happy New Year, Scorpius," she whispered.

"Happy New Year, Rose."

And there at the stroke of midnight, in the middle of the Potter Manor foyer, in front of the very large crowdful of people all staring at them with wide eyes and open mouths, Rose Weasley kissed Scorpius Malfoy.

It was hot and fierce and all the words that the two of them had been holding back for three weeks poured into the single kiss. Her arms tightened around him and his hands gripped her waist, their lips pulsating with so much wanton desire. Nothing and no one else mattered but them.

That was a moment that both of them would cherish forever.

" _Oh, hell, no_!"

" _You've got to be kidding me!_ "

Rose finally pulled her gaze away from Scorpius long enough to glare at James and Fred who finally pushed their way through the crowd towards them. "Hullo there, James. Fred. Happy New Year."

"Whatthe hell is the matter with you, Rose!?" James snarled, his rather incredulous glare fixated on the Slytherin.

Fred followed suit. "You're not allowed to kiss this guy!"

"Not allowed!"

"And you can forget about loving him!"

" _Forget it_!"

"What are you _thinking¸_ Rose?"

"Have you gone completely mad!?"

"He's a Malfoy!"

" _A goddamned Malfoy_!"

She chuckled before shaking her head, reaching over for Scorpius' hand and squeezing it tightly. "No, he's not a Malfoy," she said with a warm smile, meeting the hesitance in the Slytherin's eyes. "He's just Scorpius."

* * *

 **A/N:** Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that this was the last chapter? There will be an epilogue and I hope to have it up in the next week, but otherwise my very first Rose/Scorpius story is coming to an end.

I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I am playing around with a sequel but I'm also in the middle of writing a Teddy/Victoire story, a Marauder/Lily story that also includes Alice/Frank and Marlene McKinnon, and a James Potter II story. All of them would be multi-chapter and far longer than this one ended up being. Still not sure which one I'm going to inevitably run with. Any preferences? Or any other suggestions?


	17. Epilogue

**A/N:** Well here's the epilogue I promised you...a week late. Sorry! I didn't like what I originally had so I ended up completely rewriting it. Can't let this story end on something I'm not proud of.

I got a lot of comments/eye-raises at how I ended the last chapter with it being public. I went back and forth a few times on how I wanted it to end and the reason I went with such a public forum is because everything else they had ever done or talked about was in private and the only way to make it real was to make them heard by everyone. It's one thing for Scorpius to tell Rose everything he was feeling if it was just the two of them. It's another making it real.

 **Disclaimer:** J.K. Rowling is my hero. She owns all of this world and I love her for it.

* * *

 **Different Kind of Love Story**

By ByeByeBirdie

EPILOGUE

* * *

Rose was pinning up the last of her curls when there was a knock on the door. Before she could say anything, the door creaked open. Looking in the mirror reflection, she smiled as Scorpius sauntered in. He smiled but it turned into a groan.

"Dammit, I see I'm too late," he sighed, dropping on to the edge of her bed with the shake of his head.

Rose's eyebrow shot upward. "For?"

He smirked, brushing the hair from his face. "You're dressed. Enough said."

She laughed, shaking her head at him. "Is that all you ever think about?"

He chuckled, pulling himself off the bed and making his way over to her. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, leaning over to kiss the side of her face. "Nah, you're beautiful with or without clothes, babe," he whispered. "But for the record, your ass does look incredibly fine in that dress."

She blushed, finding it humbling that he could still make her blush five months later. "You're still not getting laid right now."

He groaned, pressing a kiss to her cheek before releasing her so she could finish her hair. "How else am I supposed to get through today?"

"How is a graduation something 'to get through?'"

He shot her a knowing look. "When your family and mine will be forced under the same roof."

"The Quidditch pitch doesn't have a roof."

"You know what I mean."

She turned around to face him where he now sat perched against her desk. "Did your father ever confirm he was coming?"

He frowned, slowly shaking his head. "Not to me but we are still very much in the 'not talking to each other' phase."

Rose's brow furrowed guiltily, turning her gaze away from him with a sigh. When Scorpius' father found out about his relationship with her, Scorpius had expected him to be outraged or disgusted or confused. Instead, his father said it was very wise of his son to butter up to the Weasley family in an attempt to make amends between the two families and ultimately the divide that was there between evil and good. Scorpius used that time to tell his father it wasn't about "buttering up" or "making amends." It was about love.

That was when his father became outraged and disgusted and confused.

He proceeded to tell his son that he was a fool for ever thinking it could ever really work. There was too much history. Too much damage. Too much baggage. And it wasn't even about their surnames but the side of the war they had represented. Draco had been trying to build himself a name that could take his family away from the war prejudice and was urging his son to do the same but Draco knew it was all about appearances and had nothing to do with reality. Because the reality was, in his mind anyway, that a Malfoy and a Weasley could never be anything more than just a façade of disingenuous emotions that weren't really emotions at all.

Draco told his son in a very blunt fashion that his relationship was destined to fail and Scorpius was kidding himself if he thought he and a girl who stood for everything they had never believed in could ever be anything more than the enemies they had once been. And Scorpius told his father to fuck off.

Two days later, Scorpius accepted the reserve position with the Winbourne Wasps.

They haven't spoken since.

"He'll be there," Rose said, ever the optimist between them.

Scorpius could only shrug. "I'm more worried about your father than mine."

"Don't worry, he wouldn't kill you in public."

"Well that just makes me feel so warm inside."

She grinned, walking over to him and wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing her body into his with a content sigh. "We'll be fine."

He draped his arms around her waist and held her close to him, feeling such comfort in the simple gesture. "Well, of course you will. Your family loves you. Me, on the other hand, they're not particularly fond of. At all actually. Don't you remember the howlers?"

Rose grinned sheepishly at the reminder of her father and James and Fred all sending separate howlers to Scorpius with warnings to keep his Slytherin arse out of Rose's room at all times.

She could still hear the laughter from every single student in the Great Hall who was there to witness Scorpius' unfortunate embarrassment.

"Yes, they love to throw around the occasional death threat – and by occasional, I mean frequent – but when have they ever actually done anything with it?"

"Yet," Scorpius amended with a sigh. "But that's only because we've been here at Hogwarts and they have not been. All of that ends today, love."

Rose shrugged. "Yes, but you have to remember that they love me and because they know I love you, they'll play nice."

Scorpius snorted. "James Potter is going to play nice?"

Rose grinned sheepishly, pulling her head back to look at him. "Nah, he'll rip you from limb to limb. But don't worry, I'll hex him in retaliation."

"Well, it's the least you could do considering I'll be limbless and therefore unable to hex him myself."

Rose could only laugh as she leaned over and pressed her lips to his. It was these small moments she often found herself treasuring with Scorpius the most. The times it was just the two of them, kissing and talking to each other as if they hadn't hated each other for so many years.

"Who cares about them?" she whispered between kisses. "We've been ignoring the judgment and the gossip for months now. Today won't be any different."

When the press got hold of the relationship between a Weasley and a Malfoy, they had a field day with it. Articles lined _Witch Weekly_ and _Daily Prophet_ , not spinning either one of them in a good light. They said she was a golddigger and he was just searching for fame. They said she was too good for him and he was bad news. They said she was the rebellious daughter of royalty and he was the son of a Death Eater. They rehashed war stories and reminded the world that it was in Malfoy Manor itself that Rose's mother had been tortured. She became the most hated girl in the school, other girls jealous that she had Scorpius settling down for her when they couldn't get him to do the same. Guys high-fived Scorpius and made derogatory comments at him, saying he was only in it for the sex and congratulating him on bagging such a hot piece of ass. All of it had nearly destroyed Rose. She spent her nights crying and the only way she ever really got through it was with Scorpius there reminding her how much he loved her. In her darkest depression, he had stood by her as if she was the only thing that mattered to him. She had heard of students winding up in the hospital wing with suspicious illnesses and she knew it was Scorpius though he denied it every time.

He had protected her and made her feel safe during a time that the world wanted her to feel anything but. If that wasn't love, she didn't know what was.

"I can handle the world's judgment," he sighed. "Your family's is a different story."

She grimaced. "Just remember that I love you."

He sighed but nodded. "It's a damn good thing I love you too, Rose Weasley," he said, pressing his forehead to hers. "Now where did we land on getting you out of those clothes?"

"Right, because my family would fall in love with you if I showed up smelling like sex."

He swore. "Fine, but I plan on having my way with you later tonight, Red."

She grinned. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

* * *

"YOU TWO BETTER NOT BE NAKED IN THERE!"

Rose and Scorpius pulled away from each other with a laugh as they heard the hurried footsteps rushing up the stairwell. Seconds later, the door burst open and in rushed Albus and Alice.

"Believe me, I tried," Scorpius drawled.

Albus glared at him. "The right answer would have been 'Rose and I have never been naked around each other.'"

Alice snorted. "Kinda hard not to be naked when shagging."

Albus shot her a look. "Oy, don't encourage them."

" _Please_. You know perfectly well that that ship has long sailed, Al."

Albus sent her another dirty look while the other three just laughed. Grabbing a flask out of his back pocket, he said, "I knew there was a reason I brought this."

Alice swiped it out of his hands while he protested. "You brought that so we could toast to our last day at Hogwarts, you immature prat."

"Ah, I love when you sweet talk me, baby," Albus teased, reaching over and pulling her into him to press a kiss to her cheek.

She tried shoving him away but inevitably just laughed and pressed her lips to his. "Now, let's toast to us, shall we?"

"As Head Boy, I should strongly advise against drinking before our graduation ceremony."

That earned Scorpius three incredulous stares.

With a grin, he added, "Just kidding. Bring on the flask!"

With a laugh, Alice uncapped it and held it up. "Here's to one hell of a seventh year," she said before taking a sip and passing it off to Albus.

He pondered his next words before saying, "Here's to us crazy kids actually settling down."

Scorpius pulled it out of Albus' hands after he took a swig. "A year ago I would have laughed if I ever thought I'd be saying this but here's to the three best friends I ever could have asked for."

He gulped down the firewhisky and passed it off to Rose who was chuckling inwardly. She glanced at her boyfriend and her cousin and her best friend and all she could do was smile. "Here's to remembering the past, enjoying the present, and looking forward to the future. Together."

The four of them swapped smiles before Scorpius spoke, reaching over and pulling his girlfriend into his side. "Well, someone has a way with words," he spoke, kissing the side of her face. "If that was anything like that speech you'll be giving today, there won't be a dry eye in the house."

Rose smiled gratefully at him as the four of them settled on to her bed to reminisce on the year while passing around the flask until the tears of laughter took over and the firewhisky was gone. And then they picked themselves up off the bed, looked at each other with the knowledge that even though they were graduating it wasn't the end for them, and walked out arm in arm with their heads held high.

Scorpius said the finals words as they exited the Head Dorm.

"Whatdya kiddies say we go bloody graduate, shall we?"

* * *

"Seven years," Rose started her speech, staring out into the crowd of her peers and her professors and her family. "Seven years at a school that gave us the proper knowledge and education to go out into the world and become something of ourselves. But that's not all it gave us. It gave us friendship and laughter. Adventures and fun. Hopes and dreams. We grew up here. We grew up into the people we are today. And my advice to all of you as we each settle into the next chapter of our lives is to embrace who you are. Don't let anyone else decide who you get to be. Don't waste your time trying to be someone you're not. It's your life. You get to decide how to live it. So live it the way you deserve.

"I can stand here and tell you to go after your dreams but it's taken a long time for me to realize that just because you dream doesn't mean it'll come true. You have to put in the work. The effort. You have to care enough about it to go after it. So don't just dream, do. There is no shortcut to life. There is no shortcut to success. So do what you love to do and with the people you love because you're in it for the long haul.

"Our parents and our professors tell us to focus on school and education. And I am a prime example of someone who did just that. But I also focused on friendship and love. Because having people I care about and who I can have fun with motivates me to go out into the world and be the best version of myself. They make me happy and at the end of the day, that's all any of us can ask for. You can change a job. You can change where you live. You can change your dreams. But you can't change what's in your heart. So embrace it. Listen to what your heart is saying. Your head tells you what you think you want or you need. Your heart tells you what you deserve.

"Trust your heart. Trust your friends. But most of all, trust yourself."

Rose barely heard the applause as she turned around and recaptured her seat on stage beside Scorpius. With a smile, he reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly. "I love you" he mouthed.

All she could do was smile back and mouth "I love you, too," as Headmistress McGonagall got back up to the podium and introduced Scorpius.

She winked at him as she slowly made the trek up to the podium. He immediately spotted Albus in the crowd, now making faces at him, and he smiled.

"Expect the unexpected," Scorpius started. "Nothing in life is predictable. Nothing in life will be handed to you. Nothing in life will be the way you plan on it being. Life is one big curveball. Things happen you won't expect. But live anyway. Learn anyway. Dream anyway. None of us really know what the future will bring to us. Yes, some of us are going off to become famous Quidditch players and others will be joining the Auror Department and some are going to be Healers and Ministry leaders and gossip columnists and Potions lab technicians and shop owners. But these are just jobs. They don't make us who we are. They don't define us. The world doesn't define us. _We_ define ourselves. People like to talk. They like to gossip. They like to judge us. But they don't know us. They don't know our thoughts and our feelings. They don't know what's in our hearts. They don't know us and they don't want to get to know us. So you have to find the people that do. Because these are the people worth living for.

"Once upon a time, I didn't believe in the power of love. I believed we only had ourselves to count on. I believed being alone was better than being let down. But loving someone and being loved in return is the most powerful motivator in the world. So don't hold back. Be who you need to be but don't just be yourself for you. Be yourself for your friends and your family and your loved ones. Find those people who you are proud to know, people you admire, who you respect and who respects you in return. Find those people that make your day a little brighter simply by being in it. Because as we all go out into the world and search for what we want to do and who we want to be, these are the people that motivate us to do so.

"We've all had our struggles in life. And those struggles aren't going to go away. But if we didn't have challenges to overcome, we'd never know the people we can be. We'd never know the strength we have in ourselves. We'd never know what we like and what we don't like. We all have passions. We all have dreams. We all have goals. It's just a matter of finding them within ourselves.

"Believe in your dreams and they may come true. But believe in yourself and they will come true. Only you can be in charge of your success. So I leave you with this last question: today marks the first day of the rest of your life. How do you want to live it?"

When Scorpius finished and made his way back to his chair, he noticed the tears in Rose's eyes. Sitting back down, he leaned over and whispered, "You okay?"

She nodded as McGonagall got back to the podium. "Months later, you still somehow manage to find ways to surprise me."

He glanced at her hesitantly. "And that's a good thing?"

She leaned over and grabbed his hand. "That's a great thing."

Glancing over at her, he smiled but his heart trembled at the reminder that things were about to change. He had long thought he was going to miss Hogwarts but he realized then that it wasn't Hogwarts he was going to miss. It was Rose. The two of them weren't going to be living across from a common room anymore and that very thought left him with an unexpected sadness. He was moving in with Albus and she was moving in with Alice so there was no doubt they would all get to see each other more than frequently, but it wouldn't be the same. Both he and Albus would be busy with their separate Quidditch schedules. Rose would be knee-deep in Auror training. Alice would be busy with her apothecary apprenticeship. They were entering the next chapter of their lives and Scorpius knew that meant everything was going to change. And he was rather fond of the way things were going. He didn't want anything to mess that up. It had been easy avoiding the judgment and the disdain from the world when he was hiding at Hogwarts. But now that they'd all be entering the real world, he didn't know what to expect.

And not knowing is what scared him.

But as he once again glanced over at his beautiful girlfriend, he realized that she was the only thing that he was ever confident in. They may not see each other every day but he knew if anyone could handle the change with grace, it was the two of them. They had already been through so much. This was just another obstacle that he knew they could overcome.

Letting himself love her was the best decision he had ever made.

* * *

It wasn't hard to find the Weasley-Potter clan. One just had to look for the mass of red hair and there they all were. The Potter family was there, including James who appeared to be bombarded by adoring fans alongside Caleb Lee, both of which seemed more interested in the girls than they did their own family. Then there was Hermione and Ron beside Hugo and Lily, the latter whose arms were currently around Wes. Rose's grandparents stood there beaming as one held Dora in their arms and the other held two-month-old Remus. Teddy and Victoire looked exhausted beside them. Neville had met up with Hannah and Frankie and their oldest daughter, Augusta, who watched on with disgust as James and Caleb flirted with prepubescent teenage girls.

The Malfoy family on the other hand appeared to be absent. Something Scorpius pretended not to care about. But Rose knew him well enough to know that it stung.

"C'mon, it's time you met all of my family," Rose urged, pulling them off stage.

"I've met them," he whined.

"As Albus' friend. Not as my boyfriend."

"That's because your father chased me off the platform last holidays before I could meet them!"

Rose giggled, earning her a pout from Scorpius. Needless to say, Ron Weasley was not pleased when Rose informed her father the morning of their return to Hogwarts after the holidays that she was not only dating Scorpius Malfoy but she was in love with him. He made it a point to tell Scorpius that he was a dead man if he ever put his hands on his daughter. "Oh, cmon that was funny!" Rose teased. "My father looked like a madman!"

"You didn't find it so funny then."

"Well, no, he was acting like a child," she said sheepishly. "But looking back, you had never looked so frightened before."

"Your father just found out I was the guy sticking his tongue down his little girl's throat. He was out for blood."

"You're meeting them, Scor."

He let out a whimper but followed her into the crowd anyway. He liked to joke about the scariness of her family but he'd do anything for Rose, even if that meant attempting to get along with her family.

"Mum! Dad!" Rose greeted as she shuffled through the crowd and met up with them.

Her mother instinctively reached down and embraced her daughter. "Oh, you were so good up there! I'm so proud of you!"

Rose couldn't help but beam as she let go of her mother and ventured towards her father, who was looking over her shoulder with a scowl. "What's he doing here?"

" _Ron_!" Hermione groaned as she glanced towards a very hesitant-looking Scorpius. "Dammit Ron, we talked about this before coming here! You be nice!"

Ron let out an exaggerated sigh as he nodded at Scorpius. "Nice speech."

Scorpius blinked. "Oh, uh...thanks, sir."

"You can call him Ron," Hermione urged.

"Nah, sir works just fine," Ron said with a smirk.

Hermione glared at him. "Don't think I won't divorce you, Ron Weasley."

"Oh, great," the familiar voice of James said as he strolled over. "Now the Malfoy kid is causing divorces in our family. What else does he plan on destroying?"

"JAMES!" Harry's voice scolded from where he stood with his wife and other son.

Rose could only roll her eyes at her older cousin. "Nice sunglasses, James. You do realize it's been cloudy all afternoon, right?"

"I gotta disguise myself somehow, kid."

"If you think wearing an old pair of sunglasses counts as a disguise, it's a miracle that you managed to scrape 7 N.E.W.T.s at all."

"Good thing I hardly need my N.E.W.T. scores as a rock star," James smirked, reaching over to ruffle his cousin's hair.

She punched him in the gut. "I think you mean _pop star_."

He gasped. "You take that back!"

Albus' laugh rang out behind them and James turned around to glare at him. "Mind your own busi—Oy, what do you think you're doing, Taylor? Keep your lips where I can see them!"

James disappeared as he stormed off to admonish his sister's boyfriend some more.

Rose glanced towards Scorpius who looked torn between being amused and being frightened. "I swear there are normal people in my family," she urged.

"Really? Where?"

She laughed, reaching over and pressing a kiss to his cheek. That earned him a glare from James and Ron, though the rest were nice enough to pretend not to notice.

"So, Scorpius Malfoy, hm?"

Scorpius glanced over his shoulder as Teddy came up, now with a sleeping Remy in his arms. "Er...yeah, we've met a handful of times, Teddy."

"Never as Rose's boyfriend before."

"Why do people keep saying that?" he sighed, chuckling as Rose squeezed his hand.

"She's a special one," Teddy said, winking at the redhead. "You take care of her, y'hear?"

"I already am," he urged with a nod.

Teddy smirked mysteriously, leaning in close to them before saying, "I remember those Head dorms and the privacy that came with it. My guess is the way you've been taking care of her thus far are ways the family would hardly approve of."

Rose's eyes widened while Scorpius could only stand there dumbfounded. "Teddy!" Rose finally scoffed when she found the urge to say something.

He winked at his cousin-in-law. "Good thing I have all the time in the world to keep an eye on you now that you're joining the Department, Rosie."

Rose sighed as Teddy smirked and wandered over to Albus to offer his congratulations. It was Scorpius that told her if she wanted to be an Auror she needed to go for it. Not wanting to go after her dreams because she was afraid people would cry nepotism or compare her to her uncle was no better than her going after something else just to not be associated with her family. When the article came out about her joining the Auror Department, she made it a point not to read it. She knew it would be all about how she only got accepted because of her uncle even though she and her family and Scorpius knew her brains got her in all the way.

Rose turned towards her boyfriend with a sheepish grin. "Remember that you love me."

"I want to break up."

She laughed at the whimper in his voice. "They'd hate you even more if you broke my heart."

"Probably, but by that time I'd be in hiding in a remote country off the beaten path where they could never find me."

"It's cute that you think you can hide from the Weasleys."

Scorpius sighed. "It's a good thing I love you, Rose Weasley."

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, ignoring the looks she was getting from her family members. "I'm glad you won't be running off to a remote country because I'm not sure I could live without you," she whispered, offering him a very quick kiss.

"OY! LIPS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!"

Rose broke away from her boyfriend and glared at James. "Don't make me tell those prepubescent girls that you're lined with STDs."

Some laughed, some groaned, some just looked shocked. And Rose loved every minute of it.

"Scorpius."

He stiffened in surprise, slowly turning around to face his father. "Uh...father," he spoke stiffly. "What are you doing here?"

"My son is graduating."

He frowned. "Is grandfather here?"

Draco hesitated before shaking his head. "I'm afraid not."

Scorpius wasn't surprised by that. When Lucius found out about him dating Rose Weasley, he sent Scorpius a howler at school with all sorts of reasons why he was a traitor to the family. Rose had looked horrified but Scorpius merely shrugged it off and offered Albus a biscuit, diving into a conversation about the upcoming Quidditch match. Later that night when Rose told Scorpius she felt guilty for causing a rift between him and his grandfather, Scorpius told Rose that he'd choose her over him any day.

"Scorpius, can I speak to you? Alone?" his father requested.

Scorpius was inclined to say no, but the pleading look on his father face had him sighing and nodding. With a sigh, he realized that Rose's entire family was staring at them and he felt the heat rise to his cheeks as Draco led him away from the group. Draco eventually turned around and said, "I want you to come home this summer."

Scorpius blinked. "I…I got a place with Albus."

Draco frowned. "Already?"

"It used to be Teddy's old flat. He rents it out."

"When do you move in?"

Scorpius let out a frustrated grunt. "Dad, what are you doing here? I haven't heard from you in five months and now you've shown up here asking me to come home? Maybe my home isn't with you anymore."

Draco fell quiet, the hurt evident in his expression. "Don't shut me out, son."

Scorpius wanted to laugh in his father's face and storm off. It wasn't in either of their nature to have any sort of heart-to-heart and Scorpius wasn't sure he wanted to start one on his graduation day. He wanted to be happy. He wanted to spend time with Rose and Albus and Alice on the final day before they ventured off into the Real World. He didn't want to spend it angry or bitter.

But as he looked up into his father's eyes, he saw a man who looked scared and hurt. And so for the first time in his entire life, Scorpius told his father how he felt. "You were the one who shut me out," Scorpius spoke softly. "All these years, you never saw me for me. I was just the guy who was going to pass on the Malfoy legacy. The guy who was going to put your mistakes in the past. _Your_ mistakes, not mine. I didn't make friends with Albus because of some publicity stunt. I didn't fall in love with Rose to bridge the gap between our side and theirs. I did all this because they are good people who make me feel like I can be a good person myself. You say I'm naïve. You say it will all end. You say we are bound to fail. But they are the ones that have stuck by me through it all when you neglected to do the same."

His father could only gape at him, his jaw hanging open in surprise. He said nothing, letting those words sink in slowly before he cleared his throat and said, "I just wanted you to have everything I didn't."

Scorpius shook his head. "No," he argued. "You wanted me to have everything you gave up."

Draco looked even more surprised at that comment. "What?"

"You gave up your freedom and your soul and you sold it to the devil. And you never really got any of it back. So you tell me to honor the Malfoy name and to make them proud but only because you're ashamed that you're the one who dishonored them in the first place. But it's not up to me to make up for your mistakes. It's up to me to be me, Dad. Not the you you never got to be."

His father was dumbfounded. "That was never my intention."

He shrugged. "I know. But you did it anyway and you never seemed to care to change it."

Draco could only frown. "Is it too late for me to try and change?"

Scorpius glanced over his shoulder to where Rose stood. She was talking to her mother but her eyes kept flitting over to where he stood. She met his gaze and smile. He smiled back before turning back to his father. "I love Rose, Dad," he spoke softly. "You and I will never be okay if you can't accept that."

"It's not that I don't accept it," he argued hesitantly. "It's that I don't want to see any of them hurt you. You don't think they will but I know what they're capable of."

Scorpius shook his head. "Wrong answer," he snapped, quickly walking away.

"Scorpius, _please_."

He hesitated before reluctantly turning around. "Rose isn't her mother or her father or her Uncle Harry. Albus isn't them either. They are their own people and I trust them. More than that, I love them. They've been my family for the past five months. And they'll continue to be my family. And maybe I still hope that you can be a part of that, too, but you can't if you don't accept the fact that they'll always be there with me."

His father frowned, his brow furrowing with shame and guilt. "You still want me to be a part of your life?"

Scorpius said nothing at first, pondering the question carefully. It would be easy to just shut him out. Push his father away for good so that he could stop feeling the pain that came with a neglectful, uncaring father. He could stop feeling so disappointed when his father said and did all the wrong things. Yes, it would be easy to shut him out. But he wasn't sure that was what he wanted.

He had already lost his mother. Was he ready to give up his father, too?

He glanced up at his father and shrugged. "You're my father" is all he said.

Draco looked slightly surprised as he slowly lifted his gaze and glanced over Scorpius' shoulder to where the Weasleys and the Potters all stood pretending as if they weren't watching on in extreme curiosity. The frown on his face jutted into his jawline hesitantly, his lips pursing before he slowly returned his gaze back on to his son. "Okay," he said.

Scorpius' eyebrow shot up curiously. "Okay what?"

"Okay, let's go over there so you can introduce me to your friend and…girlfriend," he spoke, the word coming out a bit awkwardly.

Scorpius blinked. "Really?"

He nodded. "If they're going to be a part of your life, I may as well meet them properly, don't you think?"

Scorpius hesitated before nodding himself. "But, uh, try not to strangle Rose or Albus' father in the process, alright? I have a feeling that might put a damper on my relationship with Rose and my friendship with Albus."

His father's lip twitched in slight amusement. "Not to mention your relationship with me since I'd be thrown into prison for the rest of my life. And something tells me you wouldn't come visit me at Azkaban."

Scorpius found himself chuckling. "I never realized you had a sense of humor, Dad."

"I guess there are still a lot of things we'll get to learn about each other, son," he said, clapping his son on the back. "Now stop stalling and introduce me to these people who are so important to you."

Scorpius felt an odd sense of relief wash over him as he steered the two of them over to where the Weasleys and Potters still stood huddled around each other. Rose quickly broke away from her mother and wandered his way with a hesitant smile on her face, her eyes flickering over to Draco. But as her gaze fell back on to Scorpius, she saw a hopeful smile on his face and wondered if maybe that day signaled the beginning of a new relationship with his father. She really hoped so because Scorpius deserved the best.

Scorpius had told her numerous times over the past few months that he didn't mind not talking to his father but Rose saw the anguish in his eyes every time his father was brought up. Maybe he claimed he was okay but she knew he would never truly be okay knowing that his entire family had written him off.

"Rose," Scorpius said with a smile, reaching out and grabbing her hand. "I'd like you to meet my father. Dad, this is Rose. This is the girl that makes everything worthwhile in my life."

Rose blushed and as she extended her hand towards Draco's, Albus' voice called out in protest. "Oy, what about me?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "And that jackass happens to be Albus."

Albus strolled over to the man with a welcoming smile on his face. He would always be wary about Draco Malfoy for he knew all too well the heartache Scorpius had endured over the years, but if Scorpius was going to try and bury the hatchet, Albus was happy to do the same. "Hello, sir. It's nice to meet you."

Draco nodded hesitantly as he shook the boy's hand. Nodding to where Harry stood just a few feet away, he said, "You look remarkably like your father."

Albus shrugged. "Yeah, I try not to take that personally."

" _Albus_ ," Ginny groaned as Rose and Scorpius burst into laughter. "Oy, stop you two! Don't encourage him insulting his father!"

"Don't worry about it, Ginny," Harry said, making his way over to them. "I'll just pull out the embarrassing stories about my lovely son at dinner tonight. Remember when he was a kid and he stripped naked to run around our garden after the Cannons won their playoff match?"

"Have I mentioned just how _wonderful_ your hair looks today, Dad?" Albus said with a sheepish grin.

Harry smirked, reaching over to ruffle his son's hair. "Just remember I have plenty more of those wonderful stories in my back pocket."

Albus' cheeks were red and he smacked Rose in the arm who was still laughing before glancing back towards Draco who looked torn between wanting to laugh and trying to be respectful. "We're all hitting up the Leaky Cauldron for a celebratory dinner. Will you be joining us, Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco looked surprised by the invitation. He glanced over at the adults, taking in the scowl on Ron's face and the curiosity in Harry's. He visibly noticed James Potter glaring at him and Ginny offering him a cautious smile. Hermione's hand was on Ron's shoulder, her eyes solely on her husband. He recognized the skeptical gleam in George and Angelina's eyes. But as he finally settled his gaze on to his son, wondering how he could possibly bow out of this after just telling his son he'd try to accept his new friends, it was Harry that actually spoke.

"You should join us, Draco," he spoke softly. "I think your son would like that."

The murderous look Ron sent Harry did not go unnoticed, but Draco only met his son's gaze, who was smiling up at him. "You in?" Scorpius asked.

Looking at the hopeful gleam in his son's eyes had him nodding. "I wouldn't miss it."

* * *

The Leaky Cauldron was packed with people but Rose only saw Scorpius. She sat by his side for most of the evening, but there had been a lot of mingling and there had been times the two of them had been dragged away from each other. Her father spent most of the evening swapping glares between Scorpius and his father until her mother announced in front of the entire pub that he better get his act together or he could find somewhere else to crash. Harry told Ron that it wouldn't be his house because he also believed Ron was being far too stubborn for his own good. And when Ron suggested getting a room at the Leaky Cauldron, Hannah and Neville said they were staying out of it. So Ron sat down and had a rather unexpectedly civil conversation with Scorpius about Quidditch. Before long, they were arguing about which team was the best in the league with Draco chiming in with his own thoughts, and while they were bickering, it was mixed with jesting laughs and had Rose thinking that maybe things could work out after all.

James and his band played a quick celebratory set, of which Albus considered slinking under the table and hiding out until it was over, and then the speeches began. All of the parents of the graduates got up to say something commemorative or nostalgic, of which had most of the women in tears and most of the men rolling their eyes, and even Draco got up to say how proud he was of Scorpius, though he kept it short and sweet for he clearly felt uncomfortable addressing a room full of his childhood rivals.

By the time the cake was rolled out, the evening had faded into night and it was pitch black outside. James and Fred had had a bit too much to drink and were getting admonished by their parents while Albus was scowling at Lily for planting a kiss on Wes in front of them all. Alice was there trying to drag Albus away, but as Rose swept her eyes around the room, she became aware that Scorpius was missing. After doing a thorough check throughout the pub, she slipped outside thinking he may have been in desperate need of fresh air.

She found him leaning against the building with a wistful look on his face. He hadn't noticed her walking up to him, or maybe was just too deep in thought, but he jumped slightly when she placed her hand on his shoulder. "You okay?" she asked.

He smiled down at her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and drawing her into him. Rose had this uncanny ability to make him feel like nothing else mattered but the two of them when he was with her. Inside, he kept worrying about how his father was feeling in a crowd full of his enemies. He felt the glares from certain Weasley members. He wondered what would happen between him and Rose in the future. He worried that his father might change his mind about accepting Rose. But outside, in the dark of the night with Rose in his arms, it was like all of his worries faded away.

"I am now," he whispered, burying his lips into her hair.

Her brow furrowed as she twisted around to face him. "Which means you weren't?"

He hesitated before shaking his head. "It's just been an interesting day," he explained with a shrug. "It hasn't exactly turned out the way I had expected it to."

"Yeah, I know. Here you thought you'd be able to drag me back to our room after the ceremony and have your way with me and instead, we were dragged to this stupid dinner."

He threw his head back and laughed. "Well, having my way with you certainly would have been far better than pretending to ignore the glares I keep getting from your family, but-"

"They're not glaring at you."

He shot her a look.

She sighed. "Okay, maybe they are. But I really hate that they are. I hate that they don't see the side of you that I see. I hate that they look at you and see your father. I just want them to love you as much as I do."

Slowly, Scorpius' eyebrow perked upward.

"Well, okay, not _exactly_ as I do," she laughed, squealing when he poked her in the ribs knowingly. "But if I could get over my distaste for you, then shouldn't they be able to also?"

"You got over your distaste towards me because we started fooling around. Somehow, I don't see that happening with your father or James."

Rose recoiled in clear disgust. "How about we never joke about you having sexual relations with my father or my cousin ever again, 'kay?"

Scorpius chuckled, leaning over and pressing another kiss to the side of her head. Sometimes, he still felt disbelief that he was with her. Actually, that she was with him. He often felt as if she was too good for him. Something he was certain her father would agree on. But she made it clear she wasn't going anywhere. That there was no one else in the world for her but him. And every time he brought it up, she chided him for thinking so little of himself. It almost always broke out into an argument, one that inevitably would be resolved with sex. Because while they were both aware that their relationship was unconventional, the moment their lips touched and their clothes were discarded, it was as if they were one person. One mind, one heart, one soul. And suddenly, everything made sense again.

Of course the surprise pop-ins by Albus had sometimes made it difficult being together. Albus had threatened to dismember Scorpius more times than any of them could count. But he also saw how happy they were together and while the idea of his cousin and his best mate partaking in sexual relations with one another made him squeamish, he learned to accept it.

"There's absolutely no one I'd want to be having sexual relations with but you, Rose Weasley," he whispered as he leaned over and pressed his lips to hers.

She smiled into the kiss, their lips dancing so serenely against one another's. "Good answer," she said back as they continued to kiss each other as the darkness of the night enveloped them. Her heart still ached hungrily for him every time she was with him. Her heart beat wildly inside her chest as his hands scaled the side of her face, his body leaning into hers and pressing her up against the cool stone of the pub. Her dress slid up her thigh, a pool of warmth settling into her stomach as his lips trailed down her jaw and nipped at her neck.

And suddenly, she felt unexpected tears prickling the side of her eyes. Happy tears. Here she was on her last day as a student and she was kissing the man she couldn't imagine her life without. She never wanted to let him go. She wanted to grab him and hold on to him forever. She feared that leaving school might tear them apart. Scorpius had always told her that that could never happen, but it still scared her to know she wouldn't be able to see him and hold him and kiss him every day.

"Are you okay?" Scorpius whispered, pressing his forehead against hers.

She nodded. "How can I not be when I get to be with you?" she said with a smile.

He smiled as he brought his lips to hers once again. "I love you, Rose Weasley."

She kissed him back, murmuring, "I love you, too, Scorpius Malfoy."

For so many years, neither thought that they could ever be happy. As is turned out, all they needed for their happy ending was each other.

* * *

 **A/N:** Can't believe this story has come to an end but there it is! I love these characters and hope one day I can return to them because I have some ideas floating around in my head for a sequel. But at this time, I must say good-bye. Thank you to all who have supported this story and reviewed throughout this process. I write because of you. These stories would not exist without you. Until next time, kiddos!


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